


The Survival Games of Fiore

by WeissGrayBlu



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24095773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeissGrayBlu/pseuds/WeissGrayBlu
Summary: Members of Fairy Tail, Sabertooth and Lamia Scale wake up in a confused state to find that they have been chosen, or rather kidnapped, into being unwilling spectators of a truly horrifying game. Trapped in a room with no way out, the only thing to keep their attention is a lacrima provided to them by the mysterious Game Master to watch as their friends are forced into a survival game of the fittest.
Relationships: Charle | Carla/Happy, Chelia Blendy/Wendy Marvell, Evergreen/Elfman Strauss, Juvia Lockser/Lyon Vastia, Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Lucy Heartfilia/Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe
Comments: 27
Kudos: 116





	1. Kidnapped

“Shrimp, you’re awfully restless this morning,” Gajeel muttered sleepily, feeling Levy moving beside him.

Her arms kept moving, even hitting him at some point which caused him to open his eyes. The room was darker than he was expecting since he figured it was already morning, but no sun was coming through the window. In that moment he also realized that Levy seemed warmer than he expected, but that only made him smirk and pull her closer to his body.

“Geroff me,” Gajeel heard someone reply who was horrifyingly not Levy McGarden.

Gajeel shot up into a sitting position and shoved himself away from the person who was somehow sleeping beside him. He also realised despairingly that Levy had never been in his bed despite what he may want. His sleepy delusion evaporated in one sobering moment.

“Alright, Salamander, you have exactly two seconds to tell me how the hell you ended up in my bed,” Gajeel replied lividly.

“Wait, you’re not—” Natsu pulled himself back, realising he was also waking up beside someone other than he was expecting.

“I am not Bunny Girl,” Gajeel said through gritted teeth.

“Are you talking about Lucy?” another voice sounded from the room around them.

“Erza?” Natsu asked, trying to remember if he had fallen asleep at the guild last night. His mind was cloudier than normal as he struggled to remember how he had wound up here; wherever here was.

“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Gajeel roared, growing more impatient by the second.

His eyesight was adapting the to pitch black room where he realised there were several others lying around him, stirring from their own unconsciousness.

“There’s no need to be so bad-tempered,” Carla remarked ostensibly, dusting herself off while feeling embarrassed that she had somehow landed herself in this particular situation.

There was no way she would ever let her guard down enough to end up asleep in a room full of other disoriented people.

“Carla? Does that mean Wendy’s here, too?” Natsu asked, squinting as his own vision came into focus.

“I don’t think she’s here,” another voice sounded.

“Chelia? What on Earthland are you doing here?” Carla asked, knowing full-well she was a member of Lamia Scale.

“Erm- I have no idea where _here_ is…” Chelia replied uneasily.

“Wait, someone from Lamia Scale is here?” Erza asked sceptically.

“She’s not the only one,” another familiar voice spoke.

“Lyon? What the hell are you doing here?” Gajeel growled, not liking how peculiar this situation was turning into.

“That is something I would also like the answer to as well,” Lyon replied in his own steely tone.

“Sabertooth is here as well,” one more familiar voice announced; this was getting ridiculous.

“Sting, is that you?” Natsu asked.

“Yea, but I’m supposed to be at my guild. My memory is kinda fuzzy, but I don’t think I was visiting Fairy Tail,” Sting responded warily.

“No, I don’t think any of the guilds were together. This is already very strange; we must keep our guard up and look around for a way out,” Erza stated, already surveying her surroundings in the dark. No one argued against Titania taking over as leader, even if another guild master was present; no one spoke against Erza unless they had a death wish.

“There seems to be a lot of people missing,” Freed observed, making his presence also known.

“What do you mean by that? I would say there are way too many people here that I wasn’t expecting to wake up beside,” Gajeel grumbled.

“Freed is right,” Erza replied grimly. “I mean, Sting is here without Rogue, when do we ever see those two separated?”

Sting was thankful for the first time since waking up that the room was dark so that meant no one could see him blushing. “Hey, it’s just the Twin Dragons name everyone gives us, we do spend time apart, you know,” Sting sounded rather defensive even though he hadn’t meant to.

“No, Erza’s right. You two are best friends correct? And Carla’s here without Wendy… Natsu without—”

“Happy!” Lyon was cut off by Natsu’s calling out.

“The Tomcat isn’t here,” Carla cut in with her dismissive tone.

Natsu sniffed the air but knew Carla and the others were right. There were several people not here with them.

“Lucy isn’t here,” Erza said sadly.

“And neither is Gray,” Natsu added miserably although several others thought it might be a blessing they all weren’t trapped in this small room with those two always bickering.

“Well, do we really wish they were here?” Gajeel interrupted gruffly, thankful now that he hadn’t woken up with Levy beside him if it meant she would be trapped in here as well with all of these idiots.

“A real man will get us out,” Elfman piped in, having been the last one to wake up.

“Alright everyone, let’s fan out and find an exit,” Erza commanded.

Everyone agreed before moving around the average sized room to find a door. As far as they could tell it was a standard room with no furniture or ornaments. Most alarming though was the lack of any windows or doors. All of the members in the room therefore grasped at the walls looking for an exit, while Natsu bent down to start scouring the floor for a trap door while Carla obligingly flew up to the ceiling to paw around for an attic door or vent shaft.

“How is this possible?” Lyon asked, knowing by now there were no exits.

“It’s almost like the walls were built around us while we slept,” Freed commented eerily.

“How long were we actually out for?” Gajeel asked, realising now how groggy and stiff he actually felt.

“There’s no way to tell,” Erza replied, feeling even more uneasy now about the situation than before.

“Wait, everyone check their pockets, I found something in mine,” Sting announced suddenly, finding a lacrima that he had no recollection of putting in there.

The telltale ruffling of everyone turning out all their pockets filled the room but there were no other indications of anyone finding anything.

“It looks like you’re the only one Sting,” Freed replied while everyone made their over to study the lacrima in Sting’s hands.

Most people’s eyesight had adapted to the dark by now, at least somewhat. But in that moment the lacrima decidedly turned on, casting off a bright light that blinded everyone. Even more disturbing was the voice that started speaking from it once Sting dropped it down to the ground.

“Oh, Fairy Tail, you are all nothing but a bunch of inexperienced children,” the voice emitted from the center of the room, immediately rankling those in the room with the Fairy Tail emblem.

“We’re not in Fairy Tail,” Chelia, Lyon and Sting retorted back stubbornly, even though that wasn’t really the pressing issue.

“Oh, forgive me, I nearly forgot who I had all placed in here. I digress, I have been watching the three guilds of Fiore for some time and have observed several mages who are too foolish to declare their feelings for one another. It is so painfully obvious how you all feel about your dream lovers, while absolutely none of you have ever acted on it. So, instead of launching a battle I knew I could never win, I kidnapped you when you least expected it. And then, I split the so-called couples up at random to separate them. You are Group B, maybe the lucky ones in all this,” the surprise speaker explained with malice lacing his voice.

“What do you mean we’re the lucky ones?” Natsu roared angrily.

Gajeel had to agree, if being locked in a dark room with no exit, windows, or food was the good option, he loathed to think what Levy’s group was facing. He knew the man in question must mean Levy for him, because there was no one else.

“I would love to explain to you where Group A is, but why don’t I show you instead?” he asked in a cunningly.

The lacrima shone brighter in front of them and most had to shield their eyes to adjust to the brightness level. Moments later there was a holographic display in front of them showing several members from various guilds standing on pedestals in a field.

“What the fuck is all this?” Natsu growled even louder. But his question went ignored.

“Welcome esteemed guests to Fiore’s first Survival Games. I am the Game Master of these said games and am thrilled to have collected you all here” the ominous voice announced from inside the lacrima although there was no way of telling where he was speaking from.

Erza scanned quickly around the circle where the other members were standing. Although it seemed they were at least outside and not in some oversized coffin, the man had explained that their group was better off. The pit of her stomach sank when her eyes landed on her teammate first, Lucy. Beside her was Gray looking as livid as Natsu was acting. Beside him was Juvia, followed by Rogue from Sabertooth, then Wendy and Evergreen. After Evergreen was Levy, Happy and finally Laxus.

It was obvious all the members of the so-called Group A were various levels of apprehensive, confused, and livid. Laxus looked like he was about to incite a lightning storm of epic proportions but surprisingly he held off so that they could figure out what the hell was happening.

“Why don’t they just move?” Sting asked, looking frantically at his best friend just standing there.

“I’m not sure they can,” Chelia replied worriedly.

“Group A, you will be competing in a survival competition. Once the timer in front of you counts down may you step off your pedestal. Right now your feet are magically bound to your pedestals whereas the one who loves you most watches from their prison,” the Game Master explained just as cryptically.

Group B could see the members of Group A shouting but this time no sound came through the lacrima.

“Don’t move, Wendy, just stay there,” Chelia called out, looking anxiously at her best friend through the holographic screen.

It was obvious though by this point that Group A could not hear Group B through the lacrima since they were not responding to their voices, just as they couldn’t hear Group A in return.

“Now, there are nine of you competing, which means there are nine others in a secure location where they have a direct feed to the competition. My plan is simple, defeat three of the strongest guilds in Fiore by breaking their spirit that you so antagonizingly love to go on about. If even a single person has to watch the one they hold dearest die in front of them, then I am confident the three powers will fall. There is no escape from the prison cell for Group B nor is there a way out of the arena for Group A. The contest will proceed for one week. After that time, I will release Group B to go and collect their dead,” the man finished explaining before his voice cut out and Group B once again fell silent.

“A whole week!” Chelia squealed first.

“I mean, they are in a field, how bad is it going to be? They won’t kill each other and I think this guy severely underestimates how capable our guilds are,” Sting said more confidently.

“Yea, they’re all manly!” Elfman agreed heartily.

Erza however continued to frown, knowing it probably wasn’t going to be that easy. Whoever this guy was, he had succeeded in abducting the top wizards from three different guilds, including Sabertooth’s master, all without a hitch. Now they were all helpless in watching their guildmates try and survive for an entire week in some sort of arena where there was no doubt traps and other plans to try and kill them. Thankfully, it did look like everyone was equipped with magic since Erza could see Lucy’s whip and keys hanging from her belt.

Suddenly a buzzer rang out from the lacrima like an alarm clock, causing everyone from Group B to startle and fall silent. Uneasily, each of the members from Group A stepped off their pedestals, now having their mobility re-intact. Erza heard Chelia audibly exhale and Erza knew it might be the most difficult for the youngest mage to watch her best friend and whoever she was supposedly in love with try and survive in this competition. At this Erza frowned even more. How could this man have foreseen who Chelia and Wendy supposedly loved when they were still so young. But, even so, Erza did a quick calculation and saw that there were already unequal amounts of men and women. This made the pairs even more difficult to decipher since it seemed some of the more obvious pairs like Juvia and Gray were already rendered false. Maybe the man had made a mistake, but she doubted that as well.

“Look, they’re already coming together,” Sting exclaimed happily.

Group B relaxed a little, knowing that if all nine of them came together they would be an unstoppable force. But the puppeteer in all this must have foreseen that as well. Immediately, there was an explosion in the middle of where the nine members had all been gathering.

“NO!” several members from Group B cried out.

The lacrima screen blurred at the impact from the explosion but they could still watch as all nine members were projected back in separate directions.

“I must mention that the center of the arena is now off limits, and that other threats are coming so I would hurry off and find cover if I were you,” the announcer came back over the PA system that must now be linked into the prison and over the arena separately.

The camera panned between all nine members who somehow seemed to all be alive. Erza figured this was by design since the Game Master must want to draw this whole thing out. It did however look like people were still pairing up as they vanished into the thick trees around them. The land around the field looked like a jungle with tall trees and thick plants circling around the grassy plain where the pedestals had been.

Group A heeded the Game Master’s advice and moved as quickly as they could after the sudden blast. It looked like Lucy and Gray paired up with Happy. Levy went off with Juvia, while Rogue found Wendy and Evergreen paired with Laxus.

“They’re still not alone,” Freed said, wanting to keep calm over the increased panic in the room.

“You’re right, we have to have faith in all of them,” Erza agreed.

“But what do we do, sit in this dark room for an entire week?” Lyon asked sceptically, not at all on board with such an idea.

“Not at all, we look for a way out,” Sting automatically suggested.

“Right, we can each use our magic abilities to try and break through the walls,” Chelia said, sounding less shaky now that a plan was forming.

“We can’t let Group A be the only ones fighting to survive,” Carla added ruefully.

“I’m all fired up now!” Natsu exclaimed more happily.

Everyone in Group B were speaking over each other, trying to put all their nervous energy into doing something more productive.

“We’ll take turns using our magic since we can’t have everyone using up all their power in case the situation changes. Also, someone has to be watching the lacrima at all times to make sure we know what’s happening with Group A,” Erza commanded.

Everyone nodded in agreeance, their silhouettes seen from the light coming off the lacrima screen.

“I’ll try first,” Gajeel said determinedly, being the loudest and quickest voice among the group.

“Right, if metal head is breaking shit then I’m joining too,” Natsu said immediately, having been uncharacteristically quiet, but getting more excited now to already be forming a plan to break out of this prison by tearing down its walls. He couldn’t wait to tell Lucy that his inherent destructive nature would be useful when he swooped in to save everyone.

But Natsu wasn’t the only one who wanted in on this plan. “Let’s make it a dragon slayer tag team!” Sting added enthusiastically.

“Might be overkill, but we have to get out of here as soon as possible,” Gajeel agreed begrudgingly.

“Right, I have to admit that sounds like a good idea so I’ll watch over the lacrima,” Lyon conceded despite his own wanting to get them out of this dire situation.

“I’ll watch over with Lyon, make sure we don’t miss anything,” Chelia added.

“Right, the rest of us, stay out of the way and see if we can figure anything else out,” Erza said.

“I’ll create a barrier making sure none of us get any rebound magic attacks. Plus, I can create runes to figure out the structure of the room,” Freed added before immediately getting to work.

Everyone nodded and once Freed’s barrier was up the three dragon slayers got to work.

Lyon and Chelia’s eyes were glued to the lacrima screen as they watched everyone from Group A limp off into the jungle to recuperate and come up with their own plans. It was already too painful to watch since they were all now injured, some more than others. It seemed Lucy was carrying Happy who looked like he had a lot of cuts and scrapes from the shrapnel from the explosion. Levy also had Juvia’s arm around her shoulder as she helped Juvia walk since it appeared that her ankle was severely sprained. The others had some rather large scrapes that Chelia worried would get infected if they weren’t bandaged up soon. And with Wendy only accompanying Rogue she couldn’t help them heal. Rogue had luckily been able to seep into a shadow when the explosion occurred which meant he didn’t even need any healing.

“So, it seems kind of strange who is in here and who is out there,” Elfman commented as he found a spot out of the way where he could still see the screen.

Despite not being on lacrima duty, he couldn’t peel his eyes away from the screen showing their friends in their severe predicament. He only wished the dragon slayers would hurry the hell up so he could go and find the man who put them all in here.

“What do you mean?” Carla snapped, being more on edge than usual over the situation.

“Well, some of the couples seem obvious, but I think this guy got a lot of them wrong,” Elfman observed.

“Does it really matter? Those are out guildmates out there,” Carla shot back.

This made Elfman pause, frowning to consider if Carla was right. “No, I guess not.”

“I agree that it doesn’t matter who this man intends for us to have serious feelings for, but we shouldn’t underestimate him. The fact that he was successful this far with his plan is unnerving. And I don’t doubt that he has somehow been watching us for some time. With whatever intel he collected, it might be useful if we try to figure out the same,” Erza replied evenly. She felt restless being on the sidelines and figured that as much information as they could gather would be better than just sitting around, especially when the other group was currently engaged in a fight for their lives.

“Alright, so who do you think is out there for you in Group A?” Carla shot back haughtily. Obviously with the context of the so-called games being based on something so personal, no one really wanted to offer up their deepest most secrets. But that was also the very principle leading them into this trap in the first place.

Erza felt bad since it was rather obvious Happy must be out there for Carla even though she had avidly thwarted all his previous advances.

“Yea, they already messed that up, didn’t they? Jellal isn’t even out there,” Elfman speculated, causing Erza to blush despite herself.

Erza could also see Carla surveying her closely and realised that this was much more private than she was letting on.

“Damn this man for toying with our emotions like this!” Carla shouted, feeling exasperated that no one here was really ready to confront their true emotions, much like the elusive man suggested.

“Haven’t they gotten through that damn wall yet?” Elfman barked, feeling he didn’t want to answer the question he had just asked himself.

Was it so obvious where his emotions lied when he wasn’t truly confident in them himself. But they were offered an alternative conversation when Freed’s diagnostics came back in his runes.

“This isn’t good,” Freed’s interruption sent a new wave of anxiety through the non-slayers on this side of Freed’s barrier rune. “They won’t be able to break through with their strength.”

The protective barrier didn’t stop the three slayers from hearing Freed’s report. “What are you talking about Freed?” Natsu asked, stopping momentarily from his next attack.

Natsu had been going all out so he was already starting to feel fatigued, although he would never admit that since they hadn’t succeeded as of yet.

“These walls, they’re made from kinetic energy,” Fried explained.

“So what?” Natsu asked frustratedly. He wasn’t good at understanding much related to science but by Freed’s grim expression Natsu had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“It means that with every hit we land the walls get stronger to keep us in here,” Gajeel replied with a growl.

The mood settled into another wave of panic and frustration, making Natsu want to punch the walls in anger but thankfully thought better of it.

There were a few determined to keep a more positive outlook. “Well, then it’s a good thing we have Freed with us,” Sting said, sounding more like a guild master than his typical Natsu-like self.

Erza looked over at him smiling. She was among the few others who wanted to refrain from panic to continue trying to find other ways of getting to their friends on the outside, not that they necessarily knew where the games were actually being held. “Yes, I apologize Freed, but I think your magic might be our best hope,” Erza agreed, reverberating the same amount of confidence in him as Sting.

“Lucky for me, I’m locked in a room with a bunch of heavy hitters,” Freed sighed but was used to this being the case within the Thunder Legion. He was always the strategist while Laxus, Bixslow and Evergreen were more physical in their fighting methods. He took down the barrier he had up initially for the dragon slayers to conserve energy. He then nodded before going around the room and drawing more runes onto the walls.

“Isn’t there anything else the rest of us can do? It’s not manly for eight of us to sit around while Freed does all the work,” Elfman huffed angrily. He didn’t know how much time had passed since they all woke up here but knew he hadn’t contributed much of anything to help the situation.

“It’s all we can do right now so we just make sure we keep track of what’s happening with the others,” Erza said.

“Look, it’s showing Laxus and Evergreen,” Chelia announced.

After the screen showed which members paired up, it seemed to first focus in on individual partners. First up was Evergreen and Laxus.


	2. Let The Games Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the teams being forced into separate directions, Laxus and Evergreen stumble into their first trap followed shortly by Gray, Lucy and Happy who have to hold on to stay alive.

“Well, this is rather tedious,” Evergreen complained to Laxus trekking through the jungle.

Waking up on a cold concrete slab had been the least of their problems and Evergreen fought to keep up her collected appearance. She had sought Laxus out directly after the explosion happened but knew he had sniffed her out to meet up with her as well. Now they were clambering through the jungle with scratches all down her legs that she bit back to ignore.

“Who do you think they have stowed away for you?” Laxus asked, lifting his eyebrow in curiosity, but mostly to annoy Evergreen who never talked about relationships.

Her façade was always up to show that she wasn’t interested in anyone while various men fell at her feet, or so she reported.

“Ugh, maybe I’m stuck in here based on someone’s else’s petty crush,” Evergreen retorted angrily.

Laxus smirked, deciding not to push the subject further since it seemed Evergreen had no interest in relaying her true feelings.

“ _They better not have taken Bixslow or Freed for me. True I spend a lot of time with them, but that doesn’t mean I have feelings for them—or anyone for that matter. Well… maybe one person,”_ Evergreen scoffed at her own thoughts before stomping off after Laxus who always set a wider pace.

Laxus abruptly stopped after several minutes of hiking into the depths of the jungle. He put his hand up to signal that he sensed something.

“What is it, Laxus?” Evergreen asked cautiously.

“I don’t know, I smell something approaching though,” he replied before his expression sank into a frown.

xx

“They stopped?” Chelia sounded, pulling Freed’s attention towards the screen while he continued to multi-task with his runes.

“It can’t be—” Laxus inhaled aggressively, not being able to mistake the smell of the man who suddenly appeared before him. “Ivan.”

“You can’t dream of beating me, my dear son,” Ivan taunted, walking purposefully towards Laxus from his sudden appearance in front of them.

“If you don’t remember, I did defeat you during the Grand Magic Games. Along with your insufferable lackies,” Laxus grumbled back.

“Ah, yes. When you use the power of the dragon lacrima I shoved down your throat as a child so you would no longer be weak. But what happens when you lose all that power, like you were never given the gifts of a dragon in the first place,” Ivan retorted cunningly.

Laxus hesitated for a moment just to feel all his strength and magic power dissipate. He looked down to see that each of his wrists now bore a cuff that no doubt suppressed his abilities. Ivan continued his advance until he was only steps away from his son.

xx

“Is that Ivan?” Erza asked, not realising there were more people inside of the arena, but then she faltered in her hypothesis.

“No, my best guess is it’s some kind of historia, although Ivan isn’t dead,” Gajeel surmised.

“You’re right. It must be using Laxus’s memory to generate a copy of Ivan, but what would be the purpose of that?” Erza asked.

Freed stopped completely with his task now. He frowned, believing he knew Laxus better than anyone. Laxus was arguably the strongest member in Fairy Tail, something Freed believed in with absolute faith. However, Freed also knew the driving force behind Laxus’s strength was that he refused to be weak. Laxus had been upset after the war with Tartaros where he felt he hadn’t been able to protect the Thunder Legion, and therefore trained even harder. Therefore, Laxus’s greatest fear was to be weak and now he was facing off against the very man who was regrettably the source of all Laxus’s power. Freed also recognised the ruins on the cuffs around Laxus’s wrists; anti-magic runes.

“What happening to Evergreen?” Natsu asked, watching her a few paces away from Laxus caught in her own situation.

“She’s being consumed by a shadow. I can’t even see her body anymore,” Sting observed, feeling defensive that a variation of Rogue’s magic was being used as some sort of weapon.

Freed knew he could still cover his own secret and whoever else was in here for the other member if he used his affiliation of the Thunder Legion as an excuse.

“It seems they’re facing off against their greatest fears. Since I’ve been with the Thunder Legion so long, I know that Laxus’s greatest fear is being weak whereas Evergreen’s is to be in complete darkness. If there is no source of light, Ever cannot use her ability of Stone Eyes and therefore she feels too vulnerable,” Freed frowned deeply watching his two team members being tortured.

xx

“Ever, can you hear me?” Laxus growled, turning around to see that his teammate was being engulfed into a shadowy prison.

It seemed whenever Evergreen moved the shadow remained perfectly encased around her.

“What’s going on, Laxus, I can’t see anything!” he could tell she was panicking despite her typical cooler nature.

He didn’t blame her and frowned at whoever this bastard was he admittedly had done his homework.

“I have an idea, Ever, so I need you to follow the sound of my voice,” he ordered, trying to keep his own anxiety in check as the Ivan look-a-like approached him, readying himself to strike.

The shadow figure started moving towards him.

“That’s right, Ever, I’m right over here,” Laxus encouraged her.

He could tell she was doubting her abilities as her fear penetrated her otherwise overconfident self. Laxus reached into the shadow once it was beside him. She yelped once he found her arm and grabbed onto it.

“Ever, I’m going to be your eyes, alright,” he instructed, bringing Ever to stand towards Ivan.

“Ok,” Evergreen whispered but she squeezed onto Laxus’s hand for encouragement.

xx

“They were fools to think they could use fear against the Thunder Legion, even if two of its members are missing,” Freed said proudly before returning some of his attention back to the runes.

Even without sound, he was intimately familiar with his teammates to recognise their plan. Laxus wasn’t their brave leader for nothing and Freed knew without a doubt that they would conquer their fears.

“Fairy Machine Gun!” Evergreen exclaimed, landing her attack right onto Ivan who wasn’t expecting the use of any magic.

“Again, Ever!” Laxus roared, seeing that the magic being used was weakening since it wasn’t meant to stand against other forms of magic.

Fear was supposed to have inhibited their use of magic and Laxus scoffed at the such an underestimation of the Thunder Legion and Fairy Tail.

“Fairy Bomb!” Evergreen shouted again before several explosive orbs surrounded the fake Ivan, easily taking his form out all together.

Once Ivan was annihilated, Laxus’s cuffs disappeared, but Evergreen’s shadow remained.

“Hang on, Ever,” Laxus reassured her, now returning the favour to dispel her worst fear.

Laxus kept his one hand on Evergreen’s for reassurance and to know where exactly she was standing. His other raised above his head before he brought several strands of lighting down to land all around Evergreen. The brightness of the lightning cast away the murky shadows until Evergreen could see again. She smiled at her partner, but both left it at that since they really weren’t used to feeling so controlled by their fears.

Laxus thought angrily to himself, about what this bastard had said about defeating them this way. He hated to even consider it, but this man had already figured out a way to throw him and Evergreen off their game and it was only just starting. Fairy Tail hadn’t really ever been hit by such a psychological blow, and this seemed to be the arsenal the Game Master was using. He had faith in his friends, but worried whether they would adapt enough to these elusive traps which were no doubt riddled throughout the arena. And although the Game Master mentioned Group B being in a prison, Laxus knew they were in one as well, if only slightly bigger he assumed.

xx

“That was too close already,” Elfman said feeling irritated for being so useless.

Those in Group B were already struggling to keep their conviction that Group A could navigate this foreign terrain that was undoubtedly set with more personalised traps. Piecing together that those attacks had been specifically catered to Laxus and Evergreen, it seemed to bode that the other attacks would be just as personal.

But before anyone could assess just what they had witnessed, the screen changed to another area of the jungle. Both dread and relief filled the room. It was relieving to see more of the others looking at least partially unharmed and _alive_ , but it also seemed that if Group B was being shown these particular teammates that they were about to be faced with some plot set up by the Game Master.

“It’s the rest of Team Natsu!” Natsu exclaimed, scrambling to be the closest to the screen even if the projection could be seen clearly from any corner of the darkened room.

On the screen Lucy, Gray and Happy were trekking along the jungle much like the group had seen Evergreen and Laxus doing. It was obvious that it was just the three of them together and Happy worryingly was down for the count, unconscious in Lucy’s arms while he slept off the obvious injuries he had endured during the explosion.

xx

“So, how do you think this even happened?” Gray asked Lucy as they made their way as far as they could from the center.

Gray questioned if it was the Game Master’s true objective to separate them like this but at the same time he felt they were in a dire predicament either way. As much as he didn’t like following orders, especially those made by some lunatic, it wasn’t like they were really in the position to argue right now.

“I don’t really remember anything. I know we came back from our latest job and I went to sleep that night. Next thing I knew I was waking up on that cement slab. It was as soon as I stood up that the slab started moving and we were all brought up on those platforms. It seems so strange we would all wake up at the same time like that. Do you think the others are alright?” Lucy asked worriedly, sounding more concerned about their friends who were reportedly in some sort of prison watching them instead of themselves who were in some kind of survival landscape.

“I know I might be deluding myself but I can’t help feeling relieved that they’re at least holed up somewhere without having to deal with all this.”

“True, and they’re hopefully all together so that’s more than we have,” Lucy squeezed Happy more into her chest as if she was willing her panic to stay inside instead of exposing how vulnerable she felt.

“So, what kind of things do you think we’ll have to do? Like monsters or—” Gray’s question was instantly, and almost predictably, answered as he and Lucy stepped over some sort of invisible threshold.

The previous landscape around them had been a balmy jungle which had led to Gray discarding his shirt at some point, although he did tie it around his waist in case he needed it later. Now, impossibly, a terrible blizzard stirred up around them. They automatically couldn’t see two feet in front of them with the intense weather change waking Happy from his sleep.

“What the hell is all this?” Gray shouted in an annoyed tone thinking that the snow might be a ploy to weaken their senses.

He tried looking around to find any incoming attacks but nothing came. Lucy had immediately called Horologium so her and Happy were stuffed into the spirit’s hollow stomach. Gray put his shirt back on but otherwise felt fine in this type of extreme weather so he led the way through the intensifying storm, albeit slowly since the others couldn’t move very fast with Horologium carrying two people on his stubby legs. However, Lucy’s summons eventually ran out so she and Happy were dumped into the freezing snow. Her short skirt and crop top offered little protection against the cold which automatically brought their meandering trek to a halt.

“Ice make: igloo,” Gray decided that at least getting out of the wind and blowing snow might offer some much needed protection.

But the blizzard continued roaring outside causing Lucy to huddle herself into a ball while Happy was still held to her chest, more out of her own need for warmth than his need anymore.

“Gray, Lucy is really cold,” Happy announced after what felt like hours of them trying to wait out the ever-increasing ferocity of the storm.

“This is insane, we were in a jungle! She used her magic power on Horologium and now the cold is just sapping it out of her.”

“You know, Lucy and I once saved Natsu from going cold when he was dying during Alvarez,” Happy remembered Porlyusica ordering Lucy to strip down in order to transfer her warmth into Natsu.

Gray also remembered hearing that story and felt suddenly hot and embarrassed at the prospect of doing that now.

“Lucy, how are you feeling?” Gray asked, hoping she would tell him she didn’t need him to do that.

But Lucy only shook her head, not able to speak anymore due to her fading consciousness.

“Dammit Lucy, stay awake,” Gray hadn’t realised how much Lucy had faded in the past few minutes.

Her fingers and lips were bright blue with her eyes drooping.

“Ah, hell,” Gray suppressed his thoughts of embarrassment before expertly stripping his clothes like Happy instructed.

Then he wrapped is shirt around Lucy’s shoulders before he laid down on top of her. He held her tightly in his arms and willed his conditioned skin to seep its warmth into Lucy.

xx

Natsu snarled from his position on the floor beside the lacrima. A territorial edge rising inside him that he couldn’t suppress watching both Gray and Lucy undressed and pressed against each other. The others were varying levels of rigid and uncomfortable, mostly at having to watch their friend freeze to death rather than any sense of awkwardness.

The time dragged on for Group B who all felt even more helpless watching their friends suffer from something as raw as a harsh climate. Where they were all used to surviving against enemies and foes, traps like these were unique and uncontrollable, making them all uneasy at the forethought of such a plan to take them out.

xx

Gray focused on Lucy’s quivering lips and bluish skin a lot more than the weather outside his makeshift shelter. But as sudden as the unexpected blizzard hit, it dissipated back into the sweltering summer day they had originally been trekking through just as abruptly.

The ice above Gray even started to drip almost immediately down onto his back as he still laid over top of Lucy with Happy hugging into their sides. Gray’s skin burned in the sudden sticky heat but he was more worried about the shock of it on Lucy as she slowly came around. It was comforting to see her opening her eyes once the shivering stopped.

“What the hell?” Gray exclaimed out loud, annoyed with how he had just had to go from saving Lucy’s life to suffering from heat stroke himself.

Lucy stumbled back into her clothes, looking flushed but Gray didn’t know if it was because of the heat or embarrassment; probably a mixture of both not that Gray cared.

Gray collapsed the melting igloo back into nothing before reluctantly putting his shorts back on given the begrudging reality that he didn’t want to be that vulnerable walking around this foreign jungle.

“Maybe the Game Master gave up since you’re practically immune to the freezing cold and you were keeping me alive. If that trick didn’t work, I guess we’ll just have to wait for the next one,” Lucy replied miserably, shivering despite the now excruciating heat at what that might mean given that almost freezing to death had been a cruel fate for her to suffer through.

“Guys, let’s get out of here,” Happy pleaded to which the others agreed without comment.

Silently, Gray way too hot to strike up a conversation and the others too rattled from the past few hours, the three of them started trudging further into the depths of the jungle to discover just what fate this Game Master had set out for them. 


	3. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the teams face their first trap.

“Hey, it’s Rogue!’ Sting interrupted when the image panned again and changed to show Rogue and Wendy walking together.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Chelia asked nervously.

“Hell yea, Rogue won’t be defeated by a bunch of stupid tricks,” Sting replied assuredly.

Chelia continued to purse her lips but nodded at Sting’s overconfidence. Lyon was sitting beside her while everyone else aside from Freed were left with nothing else to do except watch the fate of their loved ones on screen.

“They’ve stopped?” Chelia commented a few minutes later when Rogue and Wendy observably halted in their progress through the rough foliage.

Since the screen only provided visual, they couldn’t hear what had caused Wendy and Rogue to stop but that didn’t stop the collective inhale of nervousness throughout the room.

It was broken when the screen panned slightly to show what exactly had stopped Rogue and Wendy in their tracks. The two of them had obviously spotted the cages about fifteen feet away in a small clearing with two very familiar figures trapped inside. Looking frantic, and impossibly real, two familiar exceeds were in two separate cages made of what appeared to be some sort of magically enforced glass. There were no bars, and more importantly no breathing holes to be seen. It was unnerving, but not possible.

Every eye in the dark room turned to look at the Carla who had woken with them to ensure that in fact, the one in the room with them was the friend they knew. Because in the clearing there was a white exceed duplicate of Carla with Frosch in the one adjacent.

“T—that’s not me!” Carla exclaimed angrily.

But the uneasiness in the room was apparent. Everyone was already one edge, but they couldn’t lose their trust in one another. Surely another ploy from the Game Master to put them on edge, to chip further away at their shaken sanity.

“This is easy, just tell us something only you could know!” Natsu immediately offered and to everyone else, surprisingly it wasn’t such a stupid idea.

Especially for the two other members of Team Natsu in the room, surely Carla could supply some detail to prove her identity that either Natsu or Erza could confirm.

Carla looked murderous in her stare, but didn’t argue Natsu’s point. The others kept one eye on the screen but gave the Carla in the room their rapt attention.

“Very well,” she huffed indignantly, eyes still lasered on her imposter on the screen. “After Grandine left Wendy but before she made it to Cait Shelter, Wendy met up with Mystogan. When she first saw Jellal, she mistook him for Mystogan and refused to listen to even Natsu not to revive him since she could never picture her old friend to be evil. Wendy always sees the best in people, and I’ve been her best friend the longest to know that!” Carla exclaimed loudly, both with anguish and pride.

The words sounded twisted in her anger, but Team Natsu nodded at this definitively, the others looking slightly taken aback at the revelation. However, nothing could really trump their previous revelation of waking up in this nightmare so after seeing the approval from both Natsu and Erza in a definitive nod, that was all the convincing the rest needed to drop it and believe that the Carla, and presumably Frosch, in the lacrima were fakes.

It didn’t make it any easier to see their two beloved friends in small cages, obviously suffocating and in some sort of trouble.

xx

“FROSCH!” Rogue yelled in a panic at the same moment Wendy screamed out “CARLA!”

Of course seeing their beloved best friends trapped and in pain would shake the two dragon slayers to their very core.

It didn’t take more than a few seconds before each of them were using their powerful abilities on the four-by-four crates that were seemingly made out of fortified glass. But it didn’t matter how much force was behind each attack, nothing even chipped the corner let alone cracked it open.

But what was less noticeable were the magic markings which had discreetly appeared on each of the slayers’ wrists. A certain rune mage noticed them perceptively throughout all the chaos, even if it was obvious the dragon slayers themselves were still oblivious.

xx

“Aren’t those sensory link runes?” Erza asked, always the perceptive one as well.

Freed nodded but paled when he realised just what was happening to their friends.

“Those are emotional links,” Freed stated before feeling as if he were about to be sick.

It was a clever ruse, simple in its execution and definitely affective if the terrified faces of their friends were any indication while Group B watched their most beloved companions suffocate to death in front of them.

“They’re linked together. Wendy feels Rogue’s fear and pain over Frosch while Rogue feels Wendy’s anguish over Carla. It’s an infinite cycle, but what I assume is happening is that they each think that they are experiencing the fear of the fake Carla and Frosch since they have mock runes that are much more visible. The two slayers will think they are experiencing the death of their best friends when actually they are just experiencing their own grief for effect,” Freed’s explanation led to an even heavier grief to fall over the room.

Chelia was crying into her hands while she starred helplessly at the screen while Sting fell to his knees after his restless pacing wore out. And even though the light dragon slayer was clenching his fists and growling, Freed and the others could see the tear tracks running down his face.

The pained silence lasted, watching as Wendy and Rogue grew more desperate, but the cages never budged despite all their efforts. And after some time, both exceeds passed out and the sensory links vanished.

This left Wendy visibly wailing, hugging the cage that appeared to hold her dead friend inside while Rogue sobbed unabashedly beside her, staring at the pitiful creature that still looked eerily too much like Frosch. The usually stoic dragon slayer unleashed his emotions over such a loss.

It was too much to watch that degree of pain, especially when Group B had the reassurance that those creatures in the box were fakes. They were all so desperate to be able to explain it, that this was just a trick. But of course they couldn’t and only waited while Freed instantly got back to work on his own runes to try and get them all out of there.

It wasn’t much later when the screen flicked and presented another view. By now the real Carla was holding onto Chelia tightly while Sting clenched his hair tightly in his fists. They all wanted to keep watching Rogue and Wendy, who were still hunched over the cages that fueled their own psychological torture. Everyone knew those two wouldn’t leave the boxes behind willingly and would continue to torment themselves in their grief.

So when the screen changed again, showing the final group, no one exclaimed in excitement. Of course it was a relief to have seen everyone now, that everyone was at least still alive, but everyone in the room knew by this point that it only meant they had to witness another heinous trap that was designed to psychologically torture whoever walked into it.

xx

The two bluenettes walked in eerie silence together, neither of them willing to admit to the voices in their heads that had appeared suddenly. It sounded like their own mind and consciousness, bearing down on them like a weight that could not be ignored.

Levy was one pace behind Juvia and felt herself falling slowly behind. She knew Juvia wouldn’t even notice if she were to stop all together, because then she would truly disappear. But really, wasn’t she already dead? Or had she ever been real in the first place?

“Levy, are you alright?” Levy was brought out of her thoughts and was surprised to hear Juvia using that name.

Levy couldn’t find her voice, like she had forgotten how to talk so she only nodded before both women kept moving through the thick brush. Levy felt anguish that she might never use her magic again if she couldn’t speak, her magic depended on her ability to use words to manifest elements. But again, had she ever really existed in the first place? Gajeel wasn’t in love with her like she had been with him, so he wouldn’t be sad when she was erased from existence. Her thoughts were becoming blurry and she wasn’t even sure what was real anymore.

“Levy, am I your friend?” Juvia’s words broke through her thoughts again.

Levy frowned at Juvia, thinking this woman was beautiful, much more beautiful than herself. Maybe Gajeel would fall in love with her instead and would carry her out of this god-forsaken place. Levy would just dissolve into the ground here and be forever left behind, but no one could save an apparition.

Levy tried to speak again but found she was only capable of nodding. This didn’t erase Juvia’s despairing expression so Levy stepped forward to brush a strand of hair from the other’s face. But the other flinched under her touch and Levy wondered if her touch had gone through Juvia’s skin instead of actually caressing her thoughtfully. Levy then decided that it would be best to stop haunting Juvia so she planted her feet and decidedly started to seep into the earth.

xx

Juvia watched as Levy sank to her knees and looked as her expression went blank. She tried calling out to her but she was no longer responsive. The voices in her head told her to leave her behind, and since she was evil, she did. Juvia kept walking and finally came across a small meadow. She felt an instant desire to wipe it all away with her magic so she stepped into it to do so. However, once she did she felt as if her mind was whole again. It was like waking up from a foggy nightmare and she realised the voices had been some sort of magic instead of her true feelings.

Then it hit her that she had left Levy behind, looking like she was about to die. Running full tilt back into the jungle, the thoughts returned and Juvia worked faster to find Levy before it was too late. It seemed the spell sought after one’s inner most insecurities, or so Juvia thought since she had never quite forgiven herself for being a part of the Element Four for so long. 

When she stumbled back across Levy, she was in the fetal position on the ground, still and stiff. Juvia didn’t even check for a pulse and instead heaved Levy until she was carrying her over her shoulder and turned back out the way she had come. The thoughts were pressing harshly now on Juvia’s mind and she could feel her feet start to slow.

_This girl is too weak. Finish her off and leave her behind._

Juvia couldn’t remember why she was carrying this girl anymore or how it could possibly benefit her. Juvia was a force to be reckoned with, one of the mighty Element Four, and her mantra was to help no one. The world had never shown her mercy so she was only returning the favour.

But just as she contemplated throwing the other bluenette to the ground to leave her for death, a second flood swept across her mind and she was brought back to the present. Levy obviously was experiencing something similar given away by her sharp inhale while she slumped over on the ground, followed by her ragged sobs from her lips.

Juvia was horrified, feeling even more guilty than she could ever remember feeling while she bent over to bring Levy into her grasp. The smaller woman felt limp and docile but she finally grasped onto Juvia to let the rain maiden pick her back off the ground. Both women’s eyes were swimming with misery, but they each resolved to not mention a word of their own self-destruction. They were horrified by their own minds but couldn’t let those fragile walls come down, or risk both of themselves losing to their own minds. With that silent, unsteady resolve between them, both bluenettes kept their tedious trek further into the jungle to try and make camp.

The sun was finally starting to set and as each of the groups tentatively decided to stay in one place, not necessarily to rest, it marked the first day of their nightmare captivity.


	4. Day Two: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day two starts off with Gray facing exactly why he has landed himself in here and the dragons succumbing to their own heightened senses.

Hardly anyone from either group could claim they rested after the day they had forcibly lived through. During the night, there had been more than the agreed upon two individuals watching the screens for their teammates and friends. Presented on the lacrima, the partners all seemed to settle down somewhere to at least rest their feet, but most of them only took turns drifting off or sitting together in heavy silence.

Telling from the filtering light through the lacrima screen, this was Group B’s only indication that an entire day had passed.

The second morning went by in a distressed silence, everyone from Group B asking at least once if there was anything they could do to help Freed, earning and increasingly annoyed response each time he was asked.

Everyone from Group A now appeared to be starting their day by the first sign of light, which meant that they all started their careful ambling through the never-ending jungle.

“Hey, look!” Natsu called out midmorning during his duty watching the lacrima.

Since most had been quiet since the previous day, the sudden shout from Natsu startled many of the other members from Group B.

“It’s Gray!” Sting replied sounding less enthusiastic than he had yesterday. It was obvious now that he was more concerned this time round seeing the screen flick over.

All of Group B knew Gray was still travelling with Lucy and Happy since Group A had all been continuously kept from forming any more alliances.

“What’s going on with him?” Lyon asked with uncharacteristic concern for his foster brother evident in his voice.

As the rest of the group watched the screen carefully, it was increasingly apparent that Gray was in some sort of distress.

Even more surprising was the sudden flashing icon that abruptly appeared on the lacrima like a bright red button. Right overtop was a caption that was way too tempting for someone like Natsu who knew nothing of impulse control.

_Turn on volume._

“There’s sound?” Freed asked sceptically.

“Then we could hear them!” Chelia exclaimed more happily than she had been in the last day.

“I don’t know—” Erza started but Natsu went ahead anyway and pressed the now glowing red button before anyone could wholly object.

Watching Gray had been too much for him to bear, especially since he could see Gray was obviously suffering from whatever trap he had stumbled into.

“AHHHHH!” Gray’s screams immediately filled the room as soon as Natsu’ finger pushed the button.

“Oh no!” Chelia squealed, bringing her hands to cover her mouth in horror.

“Gray! You have to stop!” the lacrima cut over to show Lucy and Happy both calling out to him.

The situation seemed even stranger since Lucy and Happy were hitting their fists on what appeared to be an invisible wall in front of them. The camera then panned back to Gray again who kept running full tilt towards his teammates.

“HELP GRAY! HELP ME, DAMMIT! GRRAAAYYYY!” another scream suddenly filled the room which hauntingly explained what Gray was trying to run from.

“Natsu—” Lyon started but Gajeel was the one who put his hand up towards Group B’s ice mage as a gesture to silence him.

Lyon frowned but nodded. It seemed the Game Master was now using his so-called romantic intel to torture the members of Group A. Not only had they faced physical threats and psychological stand-offs, but Gray was now facing something that Natsu and the others knew he had a more difficult time dealing with. The screams ringing out were surprising to most of Group B since most had cavalierly assumed that Lucy was in Group A because of Natsu. But this newest torture outed the two men of Fairy Tail’s strongest team. Gray was running away from the pained cries of Natsu Dragneel.

Natsu knelt in front of the lacrima and sank lower as anger and pain filled his entire being. Natsu hadn’t ever been able to confide in Gray how he felt and always believed Gray would never be interested. It was no secret within the guild who had four of their own dragon slayers that they mated for life. Natsu always figured Gray would flee at the thought of that long a commitment. But now he was defenseless in watching the man he loved running away in agony from his own cries. He could see the anguish on Gray’s face and wanted only to storm in there and carry him away.

“Gray, please STOP!” Lucy and Happy kept yelling at Gray who continued running all the way into the invisible barrier.

Natsu flinched at the impact and watched Gray sink to his knees from the collision, desperately covering his ears from the screaming.

“GRAY! HELP ME. HELP ME, GRAY!” the fake cries kept ringing out in ugly desperation.

Lucy and Happy were knelt on the other side of the invisible barrier, putting their hands where Gray’s head was leaning up against it.

“We can’t break it open, Gray!” Lucy sobbed while Sagittarius and Leo stood to the side trying their best to break through.

Gajeel looked around the room then, taking in the reactions of the others. He had already guessed that Natsu decided on Gray as his mate long before this whole kidnapping even happened. He could smell it on him and noticed it in how Natsu changed his behaviour towards Gray. Of course they still argued and launched the odd bar brawl against each other, but Gajeel just figured Natsu used it now to get closer to Gray when he couldn’t muster the confidence to do anything else about it. He had wanted to ridicule Natsu for not telling Gray, but he couldn’t stomach it when he was no better at telling Levy how he felt. It seemed this Game Master creep got one thing right, that mages seemed to be terrible at confessing their feelings for each other. So, curious that his other assumption was correct, he scanned the room to deduce who this bastard chose Lucy to torture with. He had an inking and landed his gaze on the next person in the room who spent just as much time with the Bunny Girl as Salamander. Unsurprisingly, the Fairy Queen herself had a crack in her façade while she looked panicked at the scene playing out in front of them. Gajeel bowed his head, cursing whoever this creep was on figuring out these intimate details that many members hadn’t even figured out about themselves yet. Gajeel hated to doubt the situation but knew that this bastard was succeeding in planting the seeds of insanity within the group as they faced their own feelings by watching those they loved more than anything in the world get tortured in front of them.

“NATSU!” Gray’s scream pierced the air, causing Gajeel to look back up. “I can’t save you,” he wept, sounding more vulnerable than Gajeel thought Gray had ever been before.

 _“And that confirms it,”_ Gajeel thought angrily. “ _The ice princess loves the fire idiot.”_

Gajeel stepped forward then, moving a couple people out of his way in the process. “We don’t need to listen to this.”

“No, I have to,” Natsu croaked, putting a hand on Gajeel to try and stop him.

“Hearing this is not helping him. It’s only giving this sick bastard what he wants,” Gajeel stated firmly.

He easily moved Natsu’s hand off of him since the fire breather was too heartbroken to fight back for the first time in his life. Gajeel pressed his hand firmly on the button but Gray’s panicked cries continued to fill the room.

“The button doesn’t turn off?” Elfman asked impatiently.

“Pass it to me,” Lyon demanded indifferently.

Gajeel scoffed but passed it over anyway, anything to turn the damned thing off. However, just like Gajeel’s efforts, Lyon was unable to mute the volume.

“It looks like this is the second stage in our own torture,” Erza stated miserably.

“Come on, Natsu, let’s go sit over here,” Sting suggested, moving to pick up Natsu from his position kneeling in front of where Lyon had replaced the lacrima.

“No, I want to be with him,” Natsu whispered back resolutely.

“Leave him,” Gajeel barked, feeling that hearing Gray’s cries without being able to watch him might be even worse for Natsu to bear.

Sting nodded curtly before walking over to the other side of the room to sit down rigidly. Erza remained by Natsu’s side but the two didn’t say anything. Lyon also stood behind them, eyes never leaving the screen as his old training partner was tormented in front of him.

“I didn’t even know—Gray’s true feelings, I mean,” Lyon whispered, probably more to himself than anyone else in the room.

Gajeel was the only one left standing near him so he turned and grunted in reply anyways.

“I don’t think Gray even knew that,” Gajeel replied sourly.

Lyon nodded and continued to watch the screen closely. Gray’s cries filled the room for the next hour, his screams eventually turning to whimpers. After an hour had passed, the simulated screams from Natsu abruptly cut out. Everyone looked back over to the screen, thankful that this particular trap was over. But it wasn’t exactly a relief when Natsu sat broken on the ground while Lucy and Happy picked Gray up on the other end to carry him back to their makeshift camp.

xx

“Are you alright, Gray?” Lucy asked after several hours of quiet between the two of them.

Happy had finally passed out but Lucy didn’t want to leave Gray alone after what he just went through.

“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Gray croaked, probably from his excessive screaming.

“Why are you apologising?” Lucy asked shocked.

“Because my secret’s out. And I figure if we’re both here Natsu is holed away somewhere watching. If this bastard is planning to rip us apart, the ones who aren’t here must be forced to endure watching us,” Gray explained shakily.

Lucy smirked despite the misery they had been through over the past two days.

“I’m actually relieved, in some sick and twisted way,” Lucy replied coolly.

“Relieved?” Gray asked, this not being the answer he expected.

“Well now that I know Natsu is the reason you’re here, I know my reason is my own,” Lucy elaborated rather cryptically.

Gray smiled, but the pain was still deeply etched into his eyes.

Lucy sighed. “I guess it’s only fair if I tell you, since your secret was outed in the worst possible way.”

“You don’t have to do that. It’s all a part of his sick game right, that we’re all idiots for not confronting our feelings,” Gray said, frustration seeping back into his voice.

“I was an idiot. I should have told the person I love how I feel. I don’t even think I ever made it obvious, keeping it so close to my heart. But what good did that do, right? And now I might never get the chance to tell her,” Lucy exclaimed, frustrated tears brimming her eyes as she spoke.

“It was more obvious than you might have thought, now that I think about it,” Gray gave Lucy a small smile in return.

Lucy looked more resolute suddenly before standing with tears now streaming down her face.

“Do you hear me out there? I know you are all watching, so please hear me! I love you, Erza Scarlett! And I should have told you a hell of a lot sooner than now!” Lucy yelled up towards the sky, neither of the awake members of Team Natsu from Group A aware or not if Lucy’s declaration could actually be heard by the right person.

xx

But everyone in the stone cell paused in their movement as they all heard Lucy’s confession. No one dared turn their attention to Erza who was still sitting next to Natsu on the ground. Neither of them had moved since the silence between the two people they loved had drawn out almost as bad as their constant screaming. Natsu did manage to smile slightly when he finally heard Gray speak and admit that he did have feelings of his own for him. But when he heard Lucy professing her own declaration he moved slightly to put his hand in Erza’s. He didn’t look at her since he knew Erza well enough to know she would want her privacy right now which was impossible with eight other people in the room. Natsu continued to smile though when Erza squeezed his hand back and they continued to watch the screen. However, shortly after Lucy confessed her feelings the image cut to Laxus and Evergreen.

“So wait, who is Juvia in there for if not for Gray?” Elfman asked exasperatedly.

“You idiot, it was always obvious Gray and Juvia weren’t paired together, that’s why they’re both in there!” Lyon replied heatedly.

“Silence!” Sting’s commanding tone interrupted the building argument that was a spark away from igniting. “I think it’s best if we stay calm.”

But the tension in the room had grown, restless energy coursing through everyone without a proper outlet.

The only thing capable of diverting everyone’s attention was when the screen once again switched to show Rogue and Wendy once more.

The two dragon slayers had moved from their previous camp beside the glass crates. Throughout the night, those keeping watch of the lacrima noticed how both Wendy and Rogue slept right next to the impersonating exceeds who had suffocated to death. No one from Group B commented on _what_ those things were in the cases; it was obvious though that Wendy and Rogue believed it was their beloved best friends.

But sometime since they had woken up, they must have said their mournful good-byes off screen, no doubt Gray’s mental breakdown was more entertaining for the Game Master to choose to showcase than the agonizing good-byes the other two must have endured.

The two were no less worrying to the others though who watched on in confused horror as the two suddenly appeared to be writhing in pain. Both of them were covering their ears and screaming out in excruciating pain, although it wasn’t apparently obvious to Group B what was so wrong.

“What’s happening to them?” Chelia sobbed out before coming to sink on her knees closer to the screen.

Tears were immediately running down the god slayer’s face while the others looked on horrified as well.

Whatever was attacking went unseen but it wasn’t like they hadn’t witnessed traps that weren’t apparent before. They still got eerie chills whenever they remembered watching Levy and Juvia trudge along looking haunted, seeing when Levy fell to the ground looking like she expected it to swallow her up while Juvia had looked reminiscent of her old self as part of the Elemental Four. That expression alone had caused Gajeel to look away in shame because he could still remember all too clearly what the power of being in Phantom Lord felt like to recognise it.

But this was disturbing in another way. Whereas the girls had been too eerily quiet in their torture, Rogue and Wendy were screaming at the top of their lungs, their piercing cries filling Group B’s prison chamber until the others thought they would lose their hearing.

However, the situation changed dramatically when the three dragon slayers from Group B also fell to their knees in distress.

Natsu, Sting, and Gajeel fell unceremoniously to the floor during the panic of watching Rogue and Wendy, and now writhed on the ground like a mirror image of the other two.

It was startling enough that Chelia managed to pry her eyes away from the sky dragon slayer and immediately sobbed watching as more of her friends succumbed to whatever trap had been set off. Carla came to protectively stand beside Chelia, making sure that the small girl wasn’t caught up in whatever was happening since she had been the last one to realise what was going on in the room.

It was unnerving for the others in Group B to orient themselves around the fallen dragon slayers, trying to get closer to try and help them but keeping a distance so not to be impacted by one of their flailing arms.

“It must be some sort of frequency only dragons can hear,” Freed surmised, the others nodding without saying anything in return.

They had already tried turning off the volume before, even though Elfman ended up grabbing the lacrima again to search it for any hidden way to shut it off.

It ended up being a futile endeavour, something the others already assumed. But no one else could think of anything better to do while they all were forced to watch the five slayers suffer for what Erza predicted was exactly one hour; same as Gray’s run in with Natsu’s fake screams.

It was eerie when whatever had been torturing the slayers abruptly ended, because suddenly all five wracking sobs cut out, giving their throats some much needed reprieve from screaming and crying for so long.

Erza approached Natsu to take him into her lap before they sat together on the floor. Chelia and Carla also made their careful way over to Gajeel who relented to Chelia running a careful hand through his ruffled hair, while Lyon stepped over to Sting to ask if any of the pain could be subsided with ice.

All three slayers in th room remained silent during the careful nurturing, but their intermittent pawing at their ears confirmed Freed’s previous assumption that whatever it had been could only be heard by dragon slayers and no doubt it had been something they could hear.

This left only Elfman to watch the screen where the other two slayers peeled themselves off the ground with great effort before they once again slunk further off into the jungle. Freed continued his diligent efforts on the runes with a second eye turned on the screen as well.

This trap had only pointed out to Group B that they weren’t completely protected from the traps either, and that at this rate, they were beginning to doubt whether the three guilds could really keep this up for an entire week. 


	5. Day Two: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laxus and Evergreen are faced with the ultimate sacrifice while Levy and Juvia test just how familiar with those they love.

After Natsu, Sting, and Gajeel finally regained some of their composure, the screen featured Laxus and Evergreen walking together looking relatively unharmed. Group B already deduced however that this only meant they were the most likely group to stumble into their next trap, while all the rest of them could do was watch.

The futility circulating Group B was weighing heavily on the mages who were so used to being everyone’s saviours in their everyday lives.

Only a day and a half had passed, but the lines were blurring between who were really the targets between the two groups. No one found it relevant to venture a guess.

Sting and Elfman were officially keeping watch, however most of the others were seated around the room with the screen in sight. It was like waiting for a car accident they knew was coming, they just didn’t know when or how bad. Because of that dreading sensation no one found that they could keep their gaze away for very long.

As expected, Laxus and Evergreen soon found themselves stumbling over their own feet where the terrain had appeared to be relatively flat and clear of obvious debris.

“Laxus, I can’t move!” Evergreen exclaimed in an annoyed tone, trying to raise her feet only to find that both of them had some sort of magic vines ensnaring her feet to the forest floor.

Laxus didn’t appear to have the same problem, so he was able to walk over to try pulling Evergreen free with his brute force. Frustratingly, this had little effect for Evergreen who felt the restraints tighten their grip on her ankles and legs.

“It’s no use, Laxus. I’ll have to find another way out of it,” Evergreen explained through her frustration, but there was no way Laxus was leaving Evergreen to her own devices.

Before either of them could come up with a plan, however, the familiar sound of the Game Master’s voice appeared like an invisible breath around them.

“I have had the amusing pleasure of witnessing the desperate confessions from some of Group A and I believe it is time to force one from Fairy Tail’s mighty Thunder Legion. I believe this confession has the capacity to completely break the team that once dared to boast how they were strong enough to take over their own guild.”

Laxus and Evergreen froze under the ominous words and whispers of the Game Master. Their past was something the Thunder Legion tried hard to put behind them and prove themselves as loyal members of the Fairy Tail guild. They knew their guildmates forgave and accepted them. But they wondered how such a revelation had the Game Master so confident that it would destroy the unbreakable bond they had with one another.

In reality, it was common knowledge among the guild that dragon slayers mated and even if Laxus was broody and unforthcoming, it wasn’t like Evergreen hadn’t figured out who Laxus would eventually claim. And when that time came, Evergreen would be happy for her guildmates. As for Evergreen herself, she would be annoyed with whichever name was spoken as her supposed love interest, but annoyance was a long way from bond-breaking.

“Laxus Dryer. The same magic-draining vines that have captured Evergreen are also depleting the power of your unclaimed mate. There are only two courses of action available to you. Either you do nothing and watch Evergreen die knowing your beloved has experienced the same excruciating fate, or you can take Evergreen’s life and save your mate’s.”

Laxus let out a growl reminiscent of that of an actual dragon, his frustration evident through his livid aura. Evergreen was livid also with angry tears escaping her eyes.

“There is another option available, however that decision will rest with Group B. Should they choose to sacrifice your mate themselves, then Evergreen will go free.”

And with that the whispers cut out and everyone paled as they took in exactly all of that this situation entailed. 

Laxus was ashamed to admit that he had believed his and Evergreen’s circumstances were lucky, especially since they had avoided any more traps than when they first escaped the explosion and had to face their greatest fears. Despite the thirst and hunger that was starting to claw in the pit of their stomachs and the mild sleep deprivation, this didn’t feel any worse than some of the jobs they had previously been on.

The members of Group B surveyed the room with hesitation, none too surprised to find that it was Freed who was observably covered in the same magical vines as Evergreen. Sting and Erza immediately went to his side, futile in their hopes to be useful in breaking the curse without resorting to exactly what the Game Master anticipated.

Freed’s eyes were widened with horror, but he didn’t pay any mind to the creeping vines along his own body. His gaze was fixed on his two teammates and exactly what situation they found themselves in.

“Do it, kill me!” Freed cried out immediately and snapped his head to Sting, the closest he felt may grant his wish since he was another dragon who would understand better how Laxus was feeling.

Not that any of the others’ love was less powerful, Freed was just desperate to appeal to anyone to carry it out before Laxus was forced to murder Evergreen.

“Freed… I—” Sting’s voice dropped off, thick with emotion of sadness, desperation, and anger.

Evergreen and Laxus weren’t fairing any better at the prospect of having to kill someone they would surely give their lives for instead.

“It’s ok, Laxus. I don’t want to get out of this god-forsaken place and find Freed dead. I know you love him. Bix and I have always known, we just didn’t want to push it. And if you kill yourself instead, Freed and I will still die,” Evergreen explained calmly though the tears that were threatening to spill over.

It was evident by the desperate look on Laxus’ face that he was not as composed as Evergreen and arguably Freed, although Freed’s pleas for someone to kill him were growing more and more frantic. An argument had also ensued between all those in Group B who were all simultaneously against both carrying out the murder and watching one happen. Elfman was the closest to wanting to carry out Freed’s dying wish, but his hands trembled too violently to be able to be of much use.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Evergreen,” Laxus finally said in a voice that sounded as low and hollow as someone who was no longer feeling any emotion.

“Someone kill me!” Freed shouted in one final attempt before the sunny sky of the jungle instantly blackened and a lightning strike came down onto Evergreen’s tiny form.

Everyone went stock still, no one daring to draw a breath while they all waited for the debris to settle around Laxus and Evergreen.

The sound of amused laughter cut through the deadly silence, causing many to flinch.

“My, my. Dragons really are nasty beasts, aren’t they? Such a brutal death you meant to deliver to the woman who has stood beside you for years. I feel that living with the knowledge of what you are capable of is more effective than carrying the guilt around from her death. Therefore, I suppose I’ll admit that those magic-cancelling vines were effective in cancelling out _all_ types of magic. Therefore, your lightning didn’t touch her and your beloved Freed is also alive, not that anyone else had the stomach to heed his desperate pleas for death.”

Again, the Game Master’s voice cut out and by the time everyone realised that Evergreen was in fact alive, although silent and shell-shocked, they also realised just how much of a cruel hoax they had just been put through.

Freed crawled himself over until he was right in front of the lacrima, wanting so desperately to join his teammates, but in keeping with the theme that this madness never ended, the screen flicked over to show Levy and Juvia making camp under a tree for the night.

“I’ll stay up with Lyon on watch duty, but I think everyone else should try and get some sleep,” Gajeel interrupted stoically. “What, it’s not a secret that Levy is in there because of me and after what just happened everyone needs a time out.”

Everyone was still eerily silent before nodding and moving to different corners of the room with surprisingly little argument. Erza stubbornly stayed by Freed while everyone else remained with space in between them.

“You know, what Gray and Lucy talked about isn’t something I really ever contemplated before,” Lyon broke the silence several hours later once the members from Group B seemed to have fallen to sleep.

“What? Homosexuality?” Gajeel asked rather defensively.

“No, of course not, idiot. I meant love. I know she’s in there for me, but it’s not like I ever planned on telling her to try and make something out of it. Mages are married to their work and their guild. I thought that was good enough. Being around her always immediately makes me question my resolve but living in separate guilds makes it easier to ignore,” Lyon explained.

“And now?” Gajeel asked, breaking his personal rule of not getting involved in other people’s business.

He figured that being trapped in here with eight others called for him to compromise on his typical attitude for the time being.

“I would do anything to trade places with her,” Lyon replied firmly.

“Is this hell really any better?” Gajeel asked, curious to hear Lyon’s answer because he was unsure of the answer himself.

“I honestly have no idea,” Lyon replied, exhaling deeply.

“What about you, are you going to tell her how you feel?” Lyon asked while both men continued watching the women they loved sleep under a tree in a jungle that seemed too far away.

“After watching the other declarations, I will be only too fortunate if I get to tell her without that much heartache, but I’m not counting on it. I’m sure she will find out in the worst possible way before this is over, and then she probably won’t have it in her heart to love me back,” Gajeel admitted, feeling the vulnerability crash over him like he felt watching Gray and Lucy and in return Natsu and Erza. He really didn’t want to even contemplate what Freed and Laxus had just gone through at the expense of Evergreen who was thankfully still alive.

“Gajeel, look!” Lyon exclaimed suddenly, watching more intently at the screen even though neither of them had taken their eyes off of it.

“Is that—us?” Gajeel asked disbelievingly.

“This has to be some kind of sick joke!” Lyon roared, losing all composure as two other figures came into view.

“Well, that does seem to be the theme of this nightmare,” Freed inserted in a haunted voice as he appeared behind them. Obviously, he hadn’t been deeply asleep, or asleep at all for that matter.

“Those people, they’re you!” Natsu confirmed, coming to join the others after obviously waking to the chaos and watching in horror as the two familiar figures approached the sleeping girls.

“Why the hell didn’t one of them stay up to keep guard?!” Gajeel roared, knowing he must have told Levy about covering her back hundreds of times.

“Wait, she did,” Fried pointed to the intricate designs around them. “She drew an alert rune.”

Gajeel exhaled in relief watching the ground around the two women light up and hearing a blaring sound emanate across the silent jungle. Instantly the two women were on their feet in defensive positions facing off against each of the impersonators.

“Gajeel!” Levy exclaimed once she recognized who was standing in front of her. “How are you here, did you come to rescue us?!” they all heard Levy ask excitedly.

“Oh my god, she thinks it’s me! She trusts that monster!” Gajeel roared even louder, stirring several others from Group B to wake up and join them.

The group all watched in panic as Levy started walking towards the Gajeel doppelganger.

“Wait! Levy, I don’t think this is them,” Juvia cautioned.

Thankfully, this provoked Levy to stop in her approach.

“How do we know for sure?” Levy asked, studying this Gajeel’s face, thinking it looked uncannily like the iron dragon slayer.

“It’s me, Levy, we’re here to rescue you,” the impersonator said in Gajeel’s voice.

But it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for the Game Master to have all their replica voices, especially after what Gray went through with Natsu’s fake screaming. Gajeel snarled, disgusted with how they had gotten their voices to manipulate Group A like this.

“I don’t know, Levy,” Juvia still cautioned.

“Juvia darling! We’ve come to take you home, please come with us,” the Lyon impersonator beckoned from in front of the water mage.

“We have to prove it’s actually you,” Juvia replied, still hesitating that something was off.

“How did we meet?” Levy followed up with a resolute expression.

“Ah, Shrimp,” the real Gajeel mumbled to himself, feeling disgusted with himself that she was using that experience to verify his identity.

“At the guild of course,” the other Gajeel replied easily.

xx

Levy aggressively folded her arms across her chest and looked at him more sceptically now. “No, I am asking you how we met! Don’t you dare play it off.”

“Levy, come on. We’re guildmates. I entered the guild after Phantom Lord got disbanded. I attacked Fairy Tail but Master forgave me and let me join the guild,” he answered her question a little more agitated.

“Juvia, you were right,” Levy replied evenly.

“Levy, come on it’s me. We don’t have time for this, we have to get going and meet up with he others!” not-Gajeel pressed but Levy shook her head.

“First mistake, you called me Levy. I’ve been trying for years to get Gajeel to call me by my name but he wouldn’t start listening to me now. Second mistake, you don’t know how we actually met. The night I first met Gajeel he crucified me and left me as a warning for Fairy Tail to find as a declaration of war between our two guilds,” Levy explained determinedly.

“And you still love this creature?” the Gajeel look-a-like asked but now with the Game Master’s voice instead.

“You have no right to question my feelings for the man I love,” Levy spat back.

“Water slicer!” Juvia turned around and launched a strike at the man speaking in front of Levy, interrupting his speech.

“You take the Lyon double!” Juvia ordered.

Levy wasted no time and turned to launch her own attack.

“Solid script, lava!” Levy yelled, successfully landing a block of molten lava onto the figure that looked like Lyon.

It was quite disturbing to watch the doppelganger melt before her eyes. She turned around to see that the one that looked like Gajeel was cut in half from Juvia’s slicing attack.

“Thanks for having my back,” Levy expressed her gratitude to Juvia.

“Thanks for switching with me, I didn’t know if you could have attacked someone that looked like Gajeel even though it wasn’t him,” Juvia replied.

“I could have!” Levy said indignantly.

“That’s brave of you, because I know I couldn’t attack the one that looked like Lyon,” Juvia admitted softly.

“Oh,” Levy replied knowingly. “Let’s get moving then, this location obviously isn’t safe anymore.”

Gajeel and Lyon both watched with the others as the two girls collected themselves and left the makeshift campsite to move on. It seemed that the sun was rising again, indicating it was the third day of being trapped in this hellhole.


	6. Day Three: The Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those in the jungle continue to suffer until their tipping point is reached... no longer sure whether continuing through the game is worth it to make it to the end.

By the time the sun had fully risen the next morning, spirits were at an all time low.

Gray hadn’t slept very much for the second night in a row, having kept watch for his other two teammates. Once the sun was noticeable in the sky he stirred Lucy and Happy beside him, feeling they shouldn’t stay in one place very long during the day.

“We better get moving, the sun’s coming out,” Gray announced, nudging Lucy awake.

“Gray, you never switched guard duty!” Lucy chastised her partner.

“It’s alright, I couldn’t sleep,” Gray replied with a shrug.

Lucy gave him a rueful look but understood that he had wanted time alone to process everything that had happened so far. She then went to rouse Happy awake before they all stretched and headed out. They wanted to put as much distance between them and the area behind them that they knew would set off the screaming. Thankfully, there was a banana tree nearby which they picked the fruit from. Even Happy didn’t complain that it wasn’t fish since they were all starving and needed the energy.

“Hopefully, we meet up with some of the others today,” Happy said but noticed the other two frowning.

“I have a feeling the Game Master won’t let that happen,” Lucy glowered. “I mean it is why we’re not allowed in the center and why the bomb went off at the beginning.”

“I hope everyone is alright,” Happy added instead in a worried voice.

“Everyone here is tough, don’t doubt their ability to survive,” Gray assured them more confidently.

Lucy and Happy smiled back at Gray as they continued to walk through the trees.

“Wait, is that a camp up ahead?” Happy asked while flying above them.

“Yea, it looks like someone might have built a tent!” Lucy replied excitedly.

All three of them quickened their pace at the relief of having tracked down some of the others. Lucy was keeping pace with Gray and Happy but halted in her tracks. The other two turned back to see what was keeping Lucy but looked in in horror when they saw the long spear sticking out of her chest.

“NOOO!” Erza screamed from her knelt position in the darkened room, watching Lucy fall to the ground in a pool of her own blood.

“LUCY!” Happy called out frantically. He immediately backtracked and flew to her aid amid his horror.

Gray didn’t give himself time to panic before he turned back around and noticed a horde of monsters approaching them from the campsite that must have been a prop to lure them closer.

These things were truly grotesque creatures, some sort of humanoid mutt. They had bodies that mimicked humans but were stark white and had no faces or identifiable features.

“ICE MAKE: Geyser!” Gray yelled, landing his attacks on four of the creatures at once.

“Gray, Lucy isn’t waking up!” Happy screamed out, diverting Gray’s attention again.

Gray chanced a glance back at the dire predicament behind him but that was all the creatures needed to get the upper hand. One of the creatures rushed up behind Gray and plunged his sword all the way through his back so that the blade was sticking out of Gray’s chest.

“GRAY!” Natsu cried out sounding utterly horrified, crashing onto his knees as his weight gave out under him.

xx

Natsu’s cries were mimicked by Happy who begrudgingly left Lucy’s side to try and fly Gray back beside Lucy so they were at least all together. Happy managed to get a grip on Gray but an arrow landed in Happy’s chest since he didn’t have a clear sightline of his surroundings due to Gray’s limp body in his arms.

“TOMCAT!” Carla cried out almost unexpectantly.

Despite all the rejection she had given Happy, Carla was crying despairingly as she watched Happy fall to the ground, landing roughly on top of Gray’s bloodied body.

“GET UP GRAY, I WON’T EVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU DIE!” Natsu pleaded desperately even though no one from Group A could hear him.

“Wait Natsu, look!” Sting said from Natsu’s side since he had immediately gone to Natsu’s side to offer some sort of futile comfort.

Sting pointed to a sudden shadow enveloping around Happy and Gray’s bodies.

“What’s happening to them?!” Natsu asked panicking.

But Sting didn’t look at all fazed, despite his acute worry for the three who had all been stabbed through and were bleeding out.

“It’s Rogue!” Sting announced proudly.

Sure enough Happy and Gray disappeared only to reappear a farther distance away where Wendy was already attending to Lucy.

“She’s opening her eyes!” Erza exclaimed, watching Wendy expertly heal Lucy.

Once Lucy was awake Wendy didn’t waste any time and moved on to heal Gray and Happy.

“Wendy!” Chelia exclaimed with evident relief in her voice.

It had been a while since they had seen either dragon slayer so it was a relief to see them now at the most opportune moment.

xx

“What happened?” the other final heard Gray ask groggily.

“She healed him,” Natsu breathed in awe, not believing his eyes.

“Wendy is truly amazing,” Chelia exclaimed proudly.

“Yes, Wendy has exceptional healing magic,” Carla added, having regained her composure now that Happy was evidently waking up as well.

xx

“Rogue saved you from those monsters,” Wendy explained fearfully.

“And Wendy was able to heal all of you,” Rogue praised her in return.

“We owe you one,” Gray replied, feeling around his chest where the blade had stuck out in front of him.

“I figure we’ll be more of a target now that there’s five of us in a group and we just saved you guys. We must have really foiled his plan so we should move from here. Do you think you can stand?” Rogue asked more urgently.

“Don’t worry about us,” Lucy replied readily.

Happy and Gray agreed, smiling their reassurance that Wendy’s magic had worked.

xx

“That’s good, Rogue don’t trust that you’re out of danger,” Sting said with his gaze focused on his twin dragon slayer.

They continued to hear the hurried conversation between the newly formed team.

“Especially since we have two different guilds in our group I’m sure that only adds to the danger we’re in,” Lucy added with an evident frown.

“Erm—well like I told Wendy at the beginning, I can part ways with you here,” Rogue offered humbly, much to the displeasure of those listening.

“Rogue, don’t be stupid!” Sting yelled angrily at the lacrima.

“Don’t be an idiot, we’re not letting a friend go off on their own. Despite the attention it might gain us, we’re stronger together,” thankfully Gray replied with the same feelings as Sting and the others.

All the rest of the team nodded which was all the confirmation they needed before they started moving in the other direction.

“That was way too damn close!” Natsu yelled, finally having regained his composure.

“You’re telling me, Rogue is being all chivalrous like usual and it’s only going to make him more vulnerable,” Sting added irritably.

“Gajeel, I have an idea,” Natsu announced, earning him a scowl from said iron dragon slayer.

It wasn’t like trying to find a way out hadn’t been everyone’s main priority from the beginning.

“And what’s that fire brain?” Gajeel replied skeptically.

“I think you might have the best bet of pulling this off,” Natsu explained stubbornly, feeling frustrated that he wouldn’t be able to do it himself. “It’s something I’ve seen Gray do with his ice to manipulate different kinds for his own use.”

Gajeel thought about what Natsu might be referring to before it donned on him. “Are you walking about the fact that your ice princess can manipulate his ice to other types in order to use the element against them? You think if I try I can manipulate my metal to the walls.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Sting said encouragingly.

“The walls are stone though, they’re not made of metal,” Lyon added skeptically.

“I know that, and that’s probably on purpose, but it’s worth a shot. It’s already been three days and Group A isn’t getting any better,” Gajeel frowned before stepping over towards the wall to put his hand to it.

Everyone frowned also, knowing that the Game Master might actually get his way if these traps kept detonating. And most likely because Group B’s actions were also being monitored somehow, the Game Master’s voice cut in suddenly through the lacrima.

“Attention Group A. I have some unfortunate news to convey. Your delayed punishment for all managing to stay alive this long is that I have had to kill all of Group B in an explosion. There are no survivors. You will be kept in here for the remainder of the week, but no one will be coming to collect the corpses that pile up between now and then, nor is there anyone to come and take the survivors home.”

“Why would he lie to them like that?” Elfman asked irritably, perplexed and equally relieved to find that he and the rest of his friends were still alive.

As far as any of them knew, there had been no explosion or intentional move on their lives.

“That’s why,” Lyon replied grimly, staring at the screen with a sickened grimace.

The camera changed from the newly formed group of five to Laxus and Evergreen.

xx

“Laxus, you need to calm down,” Evergreen was telling Laxus who had a wild look in his eyes.

“Didn’t you just hear him Evergreen, what the hell is the damn point anymore?!” Laxus roared, ripping the remaining tattered shirt off his back to give his hands something to do.

“We can’t believe everything this creep tells us,” Evergreen reasoned but she knew she was losing her friend to his own darkness.

“Why wouldn’t it be true! He wants to take us down by taking away the ones we are supposed to love. Dammit it all to hell! We were never going home to them!” Laxus bellowed aggressively.

Evergreen watched Laxus’ eyes begin to turn darker in colour, making him look like he was possessed by his grief. Before she could say anything else to try and placate him, he went tearing off deeper into the jungle alone. Evergreen sighed before jogging after him. She kept her distance since she knew there wasn’t anything she could say to bring him back, but there was no way she was going to let him face off against anymore traps alone. She knew Laxus wouldn’t turn on her but also knew at this point there was only one person who could bring him back from the depths of his mind, and prayed to Mavis that he hadn’t just been blown up.

“Gajeel, we have to open up that wall!” Fried exclaimed frantically.

“You don’t have to remind me, Greeny!” Gajeel shot back, already feeling consumed by fear to get the door opened as soon as possible.

The situation had always been dire, but it was evident that everything had just been turned up on its head again. Suddenly it felt like whatever clock had been counting down had run out and they needed to get the hell out of there.

“Lu—Lucy… they can’t be dead right?” the screen turned again, Gray’s stuttering voice sounding defeated while he could be seen dropping to his knees in grief.

“Come on, Gray, they’re really strong, they can stand up to anything,” Lucy replied, offering her hand to pick Gray back up.

“You really think so Lucy?” Wendy squeaked, sounding unsure.

“Yes we mustn’t give up hope or give into this maniac’s game. I have faith in all of them, so we must keep each other safe until they come get us,” Rogue supported Lucy’s optimistic outlook.

“Yea, Natsu’s going to kick my ass when he finds out I ever doubted him,” Gray smiled, trying to restore his spirits even though his chest felt like it was being crushed from the inside.

“Damn straight, Gray, don’t you dare give up on me yet,” Natsu shouted, flicking his eyes between the lacrima and Gajeel’s slow attempt at separating the wall.

“What’s the hold up, metal brain!” Natsu snapped, knowing there was only so long they could maintain their hope before something else happened.

Natsu could feel it, they were running out of time despite the original week timeframe the Game Master had promised.

“Shut it, fire idiot! Do you think I’m taking my time on purpose?!” Gajeel snapped angrily.

“Give him some room,” Sting insisted, keeping his voice diplomatic.

He was proud Rogue was maintaining his faith along with Lucy, so he had to keep his faith in Gajeel to get through the stone.

“Juvia, are you alright?” Levy asked in a soft voice, refocusing the attention of Group B once again.

“Juvia gave her life for Gray… but he never loved her the same in return. Then Juvia finally gave over her heart to someone else… and now he’s gone,” Juvia whispered, sounding so utterly defeated.

“Juvia, do you actually believe they’re dead?” Levy asked, sounding more and more unsure by the minute.

“Juvia is wondering if it was ever a good idea to love someone in the first place. Juvia might be too evil to fall in love,” Juvia murmured quietly, feeling as if her entire trajectory into Fairy Tail only led to heartbreak and rejection.

“But you and Gajeel joining Fairy Tail has only brought more strength and friendship into the guild!” Levy retorted fiercely. She knew that whatever thought trap they had landed in yesterday had left them permanently doubting themselves. They needed to stay focused, but if Gajeel wasn’t coming for them, was there really a point anymore? She could disappear in this jungle and be gone forever.

Juvia frowned, coming over to take Levy’s hands in her own. “What are we going back to if they’re dead?” Juvia whispered. “It would have been better for you if we never joined your guild.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t go back at all,” Levy whispered, letting her broken heart and mind take over her more sensible side.

“Gajeel.” Lyon turned to the iron dragon slayer with a steely gaze that could cut through anything. “Hurry it the hell up.”

This time Gajeel nodded curtly. Of course all the other circumstances drove him to work faster, but now it seemed terrifyingly that Juvia and Levy might be joining into some kind of suicide pact.

“Damn this bastard, he really knows what buttons to press. He’s right, we’ve never come close to someone who fights like this,” Sting swore, feeling his level-headedness sway watching the members in Group A reacting so severely to the lie the Game Master just told.

“I got it!” Gajeel roared, finally feeling his fingers breaking through to the other side.

Group B swarmed around Gajeel, ready to run out once the hole was made big enough.

The dragon slayers were the first ones out of the hole but followed closely by the others.

“Wait, we’re in the plain Group A started in,” Carla observed as everyone noticed the jungle surrounding them.

Everyone deadpanned once they were outside and could breathe in the fresh air after spending days in that stale darkened room. All this time, their friends and loved ones had been suffering literally around them, no one the wiser. It was just another unsettling realisation that further chipped away at the sanity of all those now standing in the same starting point as Group B had done three days prior. Let the second phase of the Survival Games begin. 


	7. Hunt and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The slayers use their keen senses to track down their mates.

The members from Group B took in their surroundings with increasing frustration. They had all felt so far away from their loved ones when in reality they had been so close.

“No wonder they weren’t allowed to stay in the center if it meant they figured out we were right here. Plus, our prison absorbs kinetic energy so that also explains why we never felt the bomb go off,” Erza explained with disdain the ingenuity of the Game Master’s plan.

“I’m going this way,” Natsu suddenly announced after sniffing into the air with his astute nose.

That was the only indication he gave before taking off full tilt into the thick trees behind them.

“Right behind you,” Sting agreed, running half a pace behind the fire dragon slayer since he had also gotten the same trace Natsu must have picked up.

They already knew that Gray’s team had paired up with Rogue’s and neither of them were willing to patiently wait around when their mates were out there somewhere without them and without the lacrima assuring them that they were still alive.

Erza, Carla and Chelia also fell in line behind them, keeping pace with the two dragon slayers since they knew the pair would lead them all to where they wanted to go. The foliage was difficult to navigate but the dragons seemingly followed the footsteps of their mates before suddenly they were calling out into jungle ahead of them.

“Gray!”

“Rogue!”

Natsu and Sting both called out at the same time, once they knew they were in range of their mates’ hearing. Their scents were so strong, both of them desperate to reach them.

“Lucy!”

“Wendy!”

“Happy!”

Erza, Chelia and Carla took the dragon slayers example without question. They knew both Natsu and Sting would be correct and accurate in tracking the group down.

“Natsu?” Natsu heard Gray’s exclaim of disbelief first.

Natsu tucked the thought away that he would have to knock some sense into Gray about ever doubting him and believing that he would be so easily defeated.

“Sting, is that you?” Rogue asked, causing Sting to smirk before the group finally came into the right clearing.

“It is them!” Wendy exclaimed, tears streaming from her eyes since she had doubted her own senses when she initially heard them approaching.

“Carla!” Happy beamed, walking over to her instead of flying.

“Happy, you’re out of magic energy!” Carla observed critically but still feeling too relieved to shield her true emotions like normal.

“Yea, I’m still a little weak from the latest attack,” Happy replied timidly, trying to keep the details vague.

“We saw the whole damned thing!” Natsu snarled, remembering vividly watching his mate and two dearest friends inches away from death.

“So this monster really was broadcasting the whole thing?” Lucy asked, finding her answer in Erza’s pained expression.

“We should move, we’re all meeting in the center,” Sting said, grabbing fiercely onto Rogue’s hand without letting go. “There’s a lot more to say but we have to keep moving.”

Even though no plan had actually been discussed, there were enough dragons operating on the same instincts that the others would no doubt follow to all end up back where they started. After those in Group B spectating and Group A experiencing the trauma of wandering aimlessly through the jungle, it was time for a new tactic. Plus, now those from Group B knew they had a way out with Gajeel.

The others nodded, knowing there were a lot of emotions fueling this reunion but they were also vulnerable all assembled in their current position. However, each of the saviours took the hand of those they loved most in the world, letting their actions speak for themselves for the moment while they dashed back the way they had come.

xx

Lyon chased after Gajeel who took off moments later after Natsu and the others to find Levy, and by default Juvia as well. The ice mage would never admit it but he was slightly struggling to keep up with Gajeel’s pace, but he wasn’t going to ask him to slow down either.

“Shrimp!” Gajeel roared out once Lyon figured he could sense the two bluenettes in range.

“Don’t trust that it’s them!” Juvia shrieked back before they could lay eyes on each other, sounding like her sanity was also diminishing.

“You creep! How dare you play the same trick! I can’t take this anymore!” Levy screamed once the two men finally found them. “Solid Script: SWORD!”

Gajeel watched in horror as Levy brought the sword towards her, meaning to take her own life in front of him. Juvia seemed to be just as overwhelmed since she made a blade made of water. The two female mages then joining hands to fulfill their pact together. Things had escalated so quickly, the two males didn’t know if they had actually made it in time to make a difference.

“Shrimp, give me a chance, please!” Gajeel pleaded desperately, watching Levy waiver since he was using the nickname he always called her.

“Don’t buy their cheap tricks Levy!” Juvia wailed, not wanting to be hurt even more than she already was.

“Juvia, darling, put the dagger down and give us a chance to prove it. We came to rescue you,” Lyon said softly, trying to swallow his rising panic so not to startle them anymore.

“It’s too late,” Levy replied more determinedly.

As panicked as Gajeel felt, he agreed now with what the Game Master said in the beginning. Despite the agony of watching the games _,_ Group A endured more torture that inevitably caused many of the participating members to finally crack.

“The day we met, I crucified you with Jet and Droy,” Gajeel admitted with his teeth barred, frantically trying to convince Levy that they were actually real.

This finally got Levy to hesitate as she lowered the script blade in her hand.

“I already said that out loud!” she retorted angrily.

“You didn’t mention Jet and Droy. I know that you were all walking back from the guild one night and I cut off your path before using my club attack to knock the three of you out. It was easy since none of you were as strong as me. Then I carried your bodies to the park and crucified you onto the tree in the middle of Magnolia’s park, and I didn’t think twice about it. I crucified the woman I love and it’s haunted me ever since I joined the guild and realised what an amazing person you are, Shrimp,” Gajeel finished his declaration, knowing this was his last chance to get through to her.

He watched as her eyes widened and the blade disappeared from her hand.

“Gajeel… it’s really you,” Levy whispered, choking on her sobs.

“It’s me,” was all Gajeel replied before Levy sprang into his arms.

“Juvia, do you believe us?” Lyon asked delicately, still seeing the hesitation in her eyes.

“Gray was an idiot to not love you, but I must say I am lucky he turned out to be gay. That means I get to love you, much fiercer and better than he ever could,” Lyon stated in his own careful declaration.

“Lyon-sama… came to rescue Juvia?” Juvia struggled with her own words.

“I will always come for you, my dear, you had my heart from the first moment I saw you,” Lyon admitted.

Juvia had a much more reserved reaction than Levy, but Lyon was only relieved when her water dagger disappear from her hand. He stepped forward cautiously and smiled when he witnessed that her hesitation was due to her blushing instead of any further uncertainty about his true identity.

“We better get moving,” Gajeel called over once Levy climbed out of his arms and back down onto the ground.

“Right, let’s go,” Lyon agreed, but not before he grabbed tightly onto Juvia to pull her along with him.

Like Sting and Natsu, Gajeel sensed the dragons assembling where these wretched games had all begun.

xx

This left Elfman and Freed to stick together. Freed unsurprisingly had a beacon rune which would lead him straight to Laxus.

“I should be able to track her down,” Elfman grumbled, feeling pathetic for having to rely on Freed to find Evergreen.

He could at least admit that out of everyone, it was obvious now that it was Evergreen in here for him. He didn’t know how Evergreen was ever going to forgive him for getting her into this mess because of his own undeclared feelings.

“Well, it’s not like any of us ever dreamed of waking up in a kinetically reinforced prison. Plus, I’m sure you’ll come up with your own tracking method after all of this is over,” Freed replied over his shoulder while they both ran through the trees, opposite the direction the others had taken off in.

Freed’s tracking rune seemed to be glowing brighter which Elfman took as a promising sign. They abruptly stopped however when they heard an agonizing roar that sounded almost like a dragon itself.

“Be careful Freed, he’s not himself,” Evergreen cautioned, suddenly coming into view from the shadows she had been standing in.

Freed nodded, looking more sure than Evergreen felt. Evergreen nodded back, knowing Laxus would snap out of it when he saw Freed was in fact alive. The green-haired man walked determinedly towards the guttural howls that awaited him in the depths of the brush. He was thankful his eyes had adjusted to the darkness from the time he spent in the stone prison because it meant he could see Laxus crouched in the depths of the jungle when he approached. He knew Laxus sensed him when he saw his shoulders tense even more and turned around like a predator scaring its prey.

“Laxus, I will never hurt you,” Freed announced himself softly while he continued walking towards his mate.

Laxus had a feral look in his eyes but Freed remained confident as he stood his ground and extended his hands forward. Laxus barred his teeth, noticing that this creature was about to touch him.

“Laxus, I’m safe. I’m not hurt and I’ve come to take you home,” Freed repeated firmly.

His best guess was that Laxus’s mind had cracked at the thought of his mate being killed. Freed had read every book on dragon slayers as part of his sworn oath to always protect Laxus, so he knew all about dragon mates. And when he had woken up in that dark room, his dreams were confirmed in the worst possible way. In that moment he knew he was Laxus’s mate and also what was causing him to fade into madness when the Game Master announced that all of Group B was dead.

The lightning dragon slayer only growled, not really seeing Freed in front of him. But Freed took the last step forward until he folded his arms tightly over Laxus. Laxus thrashed and growled more loudly before he cut himself off with a harsh inhale. Like he hoped, Laxus finally realised it was his true mate embracing him from his scent.

“Freed?” Laxus whispered, freezing still in his arms.

“It’s alright, Laxus. I’m here and I’m not letting go,” Freed replied evenly.

“Freed,” Laxus whispered again before folding his own arms tightly around his mate.

“It’s alright, Laxus, we are both safe,” Freed repeated, feeling the tension finally leaving Laxus’s shoulders.

xx

“Evergreen, did he hurt you?” Elfman asked once he finally worked up the nerve to speak while Freed was still treading carefully in the brush in front of them.

“Of course not,” Evergreen replied fiercely. “So, they put you in that room for me I suppose?”

Elfman tripped on his words before he scowled. “And who else would it be?”

“No one, you idiot,” Evergreen shot back before her scowl fell and she stomped over towards him.

Elfman prepared for her to yell at him, he felt it was the least he deserved. But instead Evergreen threw her arms around his waist and sank into his embrace.

“Is it over?” Evergreen asked meekly into his chest so that only he could hear.

“We’ll track the bastard down,” Elfman replied angrily.

Their sudden and unexpected reunion cut short when Freed managed to coax Laxus out of the dense trees they had found him in.

“We’ve got some hunting to do,” Laxus grumbled, not fully shaken of his madness but it was evident at least that he was more coherent now.

The three others looked at Laxus still uneasily but Laxus ignored them, pulling Freed along towards the center of the arena.

“Laxus, where are we going?” Freed asked, keeping up with Laxus who had a firm grip on his arm.

“The dragon slayers are assembling,” Laxus replied evenly.

Freed nodded in understanding before the others followed close behind. Sure enough, once they made it to the clearing Freed noticed Sting, Rogue, Gajeel, Natsu and Wendy were already gathered with the others.

“We’re the last ones here,” Laxus observed as he made his way over the group.

Now that everyone was assembled, the games had turned. They had managed to track everyone down and Gajeel was their ticket out. The plan was simple without needing so many words; get the hell out of this nightmare and track down the bastard who put them all in here.


	8. Part Two of the Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The slayers track down their mates and a new player enters the game.

It was a relief, to say the least, that finally everyone from both groups were together. They knew they weren’t safe yet, but it was infinitely better than where they had been only an hour ago when it seemed so close that some would finally give in to the Game Master’s plan.

“If we all put our powers together, we can sniff him out,” Sting said, once again sounding like a guild master.

“I think that’s our best bet of getting out of here,” Rogue agreed with his mate, keeping his hand in the other’s.

No one seemed fazed by this, wholly the opposite. Even though the way in which mates and secret loves were exploited, no one seemed to want to be timid about it anymore given the circumstances. Everyone there wanted nothing more than to just get out of this hellhole and keep their partners safe. No other alternative posed as an acceptable option.

“Gray, I think you should stay here,” Natsu said once the dragon slayers agreed on their plan.

“Like hell I’m letting you go off without me, you idiot,” Gray replied fiercely.

“But you’re injured. Wendy couldn’t fully heal you and you were just stabbed through the chest,” Natsu whispered more desperately.

“I can fight, and what makes you think I can stay behind and wait? You need me at your side like always,” Gray reasoned with his usual stubborn edge.

“Gray’s right, Natsu, as much as I want Lucy and the others that are injured to stay behind, they might be more vulnerable if they stay here,” Erza cut in.

“And besides, we fight better together,” Lucy added in solidarity, coming to stand beside Erza and slid her hand into hers.

“It’s settled, we’re not leaving anybody behind,” Gajeel stated resolutely, wanting to have any further conversations when it wasn’t a threat that one of those damned traps could set off at any time.

The rest nodded in antsy agreeance before they let the slayers take the lead, using their senses to guide them. Gray, Chelia, Freed and Levy stood only one pace behind them to keep close and make sure the slayers didn’t lose focus from worrying. This meant the others were only another couple of paces behind to watch for any traps.

“Is he serious?” Gajeel growled once they got to the end of the arena to find a rock wall the size of a door without a handle.

“It’s the same material as the room we were kept in,” Erza observed.

“Well, that won’t stop us then,” Gajeel smirked before quickly stepping forward to manipulate the door like he had done to the prison wall.

“Gajeel!” Levy cried out causing the iron dragon slayer to whip his head back around moments later.

“That bastard!” Gajeel yelled back, realising too late that Levy was being contained in some sort of invisible box.

She was banging her arms helplessly around her but it looked similar to when Lucy and Happy had tried to get through to Gray through the invisible shield.

“You fools! You broke the rules of the game and now you are forced to watch your mates die from the very elements that makes you a slayer,” the Game Master’s voice suddenly sounded over the PA.

“Gray, what’s going on?!” Natsu shouted as an echo to Gajeel, banging his own fists on the barrier that was separating them.

“It’s so hot,” Gray breathed back, already sounding exhausted.

“What the fuck is happening!” Laxus roared erratically, sounding like he was losing control again while Freed tried to free himself.

“Ahhhh!” Rogue screamed out, bringing everyone’s attention to him just to see as white beams pierced through his body.

“Use your magic dammit!” Sting ordered his mate through the thin veil, sounding frantic as he leaned against the barrier desperately.

“I can’t. It’s like my magic disappeared,” Rogue replied in agony.

“Gray!” Natsu roared again, feeling the sudden shift from the ground beneath where Gray was standing that erupted into a molten flame. “Use your ice magic dammit! I know these flames are no match for you.”

Gray bit his tongue from crying out but wasn’t very successful when his lower body became engulfed in flames. “I don’t have any magic, Natsu.”

Gray’s voice was only a whisper since the air around him became void of any oxygen.

“What the fuck is happening! He is burning alive for fuck sake!” Natsu roared hysterically.

“LEVY!” Gajeel bellowed, watching as iron spears started puncturing his mate’s body similar to Rogue with the beams of light.

Gajeel watched the blood pour out of each stab wound and Levy cry out in agony.

“AHHHH!” Freed’s cries were similar to the others by now when bolts of lightening shocked him repetitively from all angles in his invisible tomb. 

It was as if each of the mates were in an invisible casket-sized enclosure which were all rigged to kill via their slayer’s magic.

“Like hell I am letting you die!” Laxus howled, sending a nefarious amount of attacks to the outside of Freed’s barrier.

“Chelia!” Wendy shrieked through the chaos of the others in her high-pitched voice, watching her mate’s air supply being sucked out of her lungs and her body tossed around by the tornado erupting in her encasement.

“Wendy, it’s just like Gajeel’s magic. You might be able to get them all out,” Lyon said suddenly, one of the only ones left who was able to think above his panic.

“That’s right, Wendy. Gajeel was able to find the metal particles in the stone from the earth. These barriers are invisible so they must have some air properties!” Erza agreed enthusiastically, willing herself to focus on the plan and be a source of calm for the young girl who was obviously panicking at the sight of what was happening.

“Alright,” Wendy agreed shakily, not able to pull herself together since Chelia was already unconscious and still being flung around.

“Snap out of it child or they will all die!” Carla added aggressively.

“Right!” Wendy collected herself under the piercing gaze of her best friend before she placed her hands on Chelia’s barrier.

She used her fear and anger that would have otherwise crippled her to ignite her dragon force. She could feel her hands sink into the barrier as she found the air particles within and used them to force apart the invisible wall. Once both of her hands pushed through enough, she grabbed onto the sides of the two holes and pushed them apart violently. She then caught Chelia’s body and pulled her back before laying her on the ground outside.

“I’ll watch over her, child,” Carla promised immediately, forcing Wendy to move onto the next slayer’s mate.

As much as each of the slayers wanted to drag Wendy over to their own mate’s encasement they let her move on her own, not wanting to waste any time arguing. Wendy moved next to Gray who now had visible charring on his skin and was passed out into the flames that now engulfed his entire body. Once Wendy made a big enough hole in Gray’s trap Natsu reached in and pulled Gray out himself. Wendy then moved onto Levy who had dozens of puncture wounds over her body and was close to passing out from the pain. Just like Natsu had done, Gajeel pulled Levy out and let Wendy move on to the next one once she made an opening. She approached Rogue since he too had several puncture wounds that were causing him to bleed out. Finally, the last one belonged to Freed who was thankfully still conscious but still screaming through the pain. Laxus snarled at her impatiently but she ignored him since she understood all too well the desperation he was feeling. Once the hole was large enough again, Wendy quickly got out of Laxus’ way and dashed back over to Chelia’s side. Due to her own healing powers Chelia was thankfully conscious again but her breathing was ragged.

“Wendy, they need to be healed!” Gajeel called out impatiently, failing to stop all the bleeding that was seeping into the ground around Levy.

“Go,” Chelia croaked, causing Wendy to find her resolve once again.

She was exhausted from all the element manipulation she had just done but she wouldn’t stop if it meant her friends would die. She used her healing on Levy first and once all the wounds were closed she quickly moved onto Rogue who was in a similar state. After Rogue though, Wendy’s magic had significantly depleted. She heaved herself over to Gray who was covered in third degree burns.

“Use my magic,” Chelia croaked out, having dragged herself to Wendy’s side.

Wendy wanted nothing but to argue with Chelia but knew Gray needed more healing than she was currently capable of giving. She nodded, feeling tears of irritation brim her eyes before she accepted Chelia’s magic. Chelia rested her hand on Wendy’s leg and transferred the last of her energy to her slayer.

“Thank-you,” Natsu whispered as he watched all of Gray’s burns disappear from his body.

Wendy nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. She looked over to Freed who was being held protectively by Laxus. Despite his injuries she knew they weren’t fatal so she reserved the rest of her remaining energy.

“Alright, the situation has drastically changed but we must go and take the Game Master out or these traps will never end,” Erza said evenly with Lucy still holding her hand.

Both were appalled at the spectacle they had just witnessed, but neither could let their horror curb their efforts to get out.

“Right, Gajeel still needs to open the door but the rest of us will go on ahead. The mates will be safe with their slayers watching over them,” Erza said.

Gajeel scowled but knew Erza was right. Lucy walked over and held onto Levy’s other hand to show Gajeel she would look after her while he got the door open. He nodded before he stood up and angrily sank his hands into the stone wall. Moments later there was a wide enough hole in it that the others could go through. Gajeel returned back to Lucy and thanked her quietly.

“Come on, Lucy,” Erza beckoned and Lucy followed.

The slayers then watched as Erza, Lucy, Happy, Carla, Lyon, Juvia, Elfman and Evergreen disappeared through the opening made by Gajeel before they turned their attention back to their mates.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Sting asked while he rested Rogue’s head into his lap.

“Of course, it’s Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale, they’ll be fine,” Gajeel replied gruffly.

“What was that?” Wendy asked a moment later, before they all turned around to see the hole filling in.

Even worse was the mystery man standing in front of it.

“That guy, he’s the one behind this whole thing,” Natsu snarled murderously.

“Then he’s an idiot for walking into a dragon den and sealing the exit behind him,” Laxus seethed as the five dragon slayers got up and formed a loose circle around him.

“You know, I’ve been studying your guilds for so long, I picked up so many tricks on how to defeat you all. I spent years learning all types of magic and I must say _this_ is my favourite one,” the man explained much too calmly, causing the dragons to pause in their advance.

Suddenly, there were chains wrapped around each of the slayer’s necks. Wendy was connected to Laxus, Gajeel with Natsu and Sting with Rogue who had gained consciousness but was still sitting on the ground.

“Our friends will stop you,” Sting stated firmly, confident in his friends’ ability to come back and save them.

“You are most likely right, I’m sure your guild mates have gone off to get help. But by then some of you will be dead and my plan will have succeeded. We’re in Fiore, in the Grand Magic Games stadium. I chose to act the week the King and Princess left on a diplomatic mission to Alvarez. The stadium is left vacant when the festival is not active,” he explained rather dully before turning an especially conniving smile towards them. “So tell me, what happens when dragons lose their mates? I read somewhere that they lose their minds, some even go on a rampage.”

The Game Master was truly enjoying himself now, a sickening grin on his other wise relaxed face. There was nothing impressive about him. An average sized man with dark green hair dressed in dark gray lacks and a lighter gray t-shirt with a black pinstriped vest over top. He was almost forgettable, except for the fact that he had somehow kidnapped the top wizards in the empire and still looked much too confident that he was going to succeed. “You have two choices before you.”

The man looked utterly pleased with himself as the dragon slayers started to pull at their hair or press their hands to their heads like it was going to stop the sudden murderous thoughts from infiltrating their minds. As well, a sharp blade appeared before each the injured mates who were now awake and struggling to their feet.

“Either the dragon slayers slaughter each other as my spell takes over their minds, or the mates cut themselves and each other down so that the slayers go free.”

The man explained it like it was a simple decision but each of the slayers howled in anger, fighting against the intensifying thoughts in their heads.

Despite their best efforts, the slayers started to become feral in a matter of minutes and began clashing against one another.

“We can’t let them do this!” Chelia shrieked, watching Wendy trying to hold her own against Laxus, both of them with a crazed look in their eye. “But, I can’t kill myself.”

The sky god slayer sobbed as Levy came over and held her, all the while with the blade she was given in her hand.

“I’ll do it,” Gray stated resolutely. “I’ll do it and then kill myself last. I can put the decision all on my soul.”

Both girls gasped while Freed bowed his head. The rune mage went to object but saw Gray shake his head slightly. “Alright.”

Gray immediately took his blade and approached Chelia first so she wouldn’t have to watch the others being taken down. He stabbed his blade clean through and immediately heard the visceral cries from Wendy behind him. He figured the bastard had lightened up on the control spell for the slayers so they could willfully watch Gray murder their mates.

“Gray, what the hell are you doing?!” Natsu screamed at him but Gray didn’t dare turn around and instead moved on to stab his blade through Levy’s chest next.

Gajeel’s roar reverberated through the air, sending chills up Gray’s back, but still he continued on. Now, he stood in front of Freed who nodded slightly back at him. Gray lifted his blade again and brought it down swiftly. Laxus’s growl was feral and wild, one that meant he was out to destroy the world.

“Gray, dammit, put that fucking blade down!” Natsu swore frantically, losing his own sanity while he watched his mate murder his friends and then bring up his blade to his own chest.

“I’m sorry, Natsu,” he whispered before he brought up his blade and quickly forced it down. Gray collapsed to the ground, hearing the maniacal laugh of the man as he did so.

“Ice Make: Geyser!” Gray stood back up instantly before any of the impending chaos could ensue, sending his surprise attack so it erupted under the Game Master, cutting off his laughing and incapacitating him on icy spikes.

“Ice Hammer!” Gray finished his dual attack, bringing down an ice hammer from the sky.

Gray didn’t flinch when the hammer smashed the man into the spikes made of ice, violently ending his life.

“You couldn’t have done that first?!” Gajeel roared vengefully.

The collars disappeared the instant the man died, meaning the grieving slayers were swarming Gray who somehow still stood his ground.

“Fire King Dragon: ROAR!” Natsu launched an attack to get the dragons away from his mate.

“Gajeel, we’re alive!” Levy shouted out, causing the iron dragon slayer to stop in his tracks.

“Levy?” Gajeel whirled around, not trusting what he had just heard.

“We’re alright,” Freed came out as well from behind his ice made clone.

“I had to make it look good,” Gray said shrugging before he finally collapsed.

His energy was completely spent but Natsu, who had been standing defensively in front of him, caught him before he hit the ground.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Natsu whispered feverishly into Gray’s ear.

Gray managed to lift his head to look at Natsu and gave him a smirk.

“But you’re my fucking idiot,” Natsu added before crushing his lips into Gray’s.

Despite his lack of energy Gray kissed Natsu back, feeling as if the dragon slayer was breathing more life and energy into him. When Natsu pulled back, Gray managed to stand up, if not a little unsteadily. The fire dragon slayer kept a firm hold on the ice mage’s waist, making sure he didn’t hurt himself anymore than he already had.

“Shrimp, I can’t believe I almost lost you,” Gajeel whispered as Levy wrapped her small frame around him.

Her body still ached from the residual pain from the stab wounds but that didn’t stop her from embracing Gajeel.

“I—I want a future with you,” he continued desperately.

Gajeel was barely whispering since he didn’t want anyone else witnessing his heightened level of vulnerability.

“You idiot, I was always going to be your future,” Levy replied, burying her face into his thick chest.

She lifted her head and they could both see that each other was crying. Gajeel, never being good with words for expressing himself, lifted her up so that her face was level with his and kissed her intensely. He only hoped she could feel his love and undying loyalty for her, a passion that would carry him through until the day he died.

“Laxus, it’s all over now,” Freed said consolingly watching Laxus standing in front of him looking manic.

Freed drew out his hand and placed it on Laxus’s cheek, the lightning slayer turning abruptly but noticed Freed looking at him lovingly in return.

“It’s alright,” he repeated soothingly.

Laxus nodded before he quickly swept Freed into a crushing embrace.

“I can’t live without you,” Laxus broke down and buried his head into his mate’s shoulder.

“Nor I you,” Fried replied softly, holding Laxus firmly before he finally felt his mate let his guard down.

Freed had remained strong for Laxus who lost his mind when he thought his mate had died, but now Freed let go of his emotions and started sobbing as Laxus held onto him for dear life.

“Sting?’ Rogue asked, managing to stand up and walk over to his mate. “Sting, it’s over.”

Rogue tried smiling but stopped short when he noticed the look of disgust on Sting’s face.

“Gray did what he had to,” Rogue said, thinking they shouldn’t judge Gray too harshly for murdering the man in self defense.

“That’s not it,” Sting replied through gritted teeth.

Sting looked down at his hands before balling them up in anger. “I almost killed you. I attacked you when you were already weak from the first attack, I didn’t want to but I kept attacking you.”

Sting’s voice hitched before he collapsed to the ground and started sobbing. Rogue slowly approached Sting and knelt down so he was right beside him. He grabbed onto Sting’s hands and tightened his grip when Sting tried to pull away.

“Sting look at me,” Rogue demanded in an authoritative voice.

Sting looked up hesitantly, feeling disgusted with himself and wishing he had died instead of facing this guilt.

“Sting, I’ve wanted you to look at me as more than a friend for longer than I can remember. This has been a complete nightmare and all I want to do is go home and move on from it all, but I can’t go home if all you’re going to do is look at me like that. I want you to look at me like I’m your lover, because I can’t go back and not have you as a mate. So please, don’t punish yourself anymore. I want to go home with the man I love and live our lives together,” Rogue explained evenly.

Sting swallowed loudly, surprised by how Rogue was addressing the situation.

“You’re not the only one who was fighting to kill,” Rogue added solemnly.

Sting nodded, using the perspective he had gained from being a guild master to seek forgiveness in himself.

“You really love me?” Sting asked disbelievingly.

“I’m asking you to be my mate; lifelong commitment,” Rogue replied with certainty.

“In that case, I better plan a celebration at the guild so we can make it official,” Sting finally answered, making Rogue’s eyes light up happily.

“You would do that for us?” Rogue asked, now sounding disbelieving himself.

“I will do anything to make you happy, Rogue, even swallow my own pride. And right now I need you to see how serious I am about loving you, so in honour of that I will throw a spectacular party to show everyone how much I love you,” Sting said with a smile.

“I love you, Sting,” Rogue whispered before finally pulling Sting into a tight embrace.

Sting turned his head to plant a kiss onto Rogue’s cheek and whisper into his ear.

“I love you, too, Rogue, more than you can ever know.”

“Wendy, are you alright?” Chelia asked frantically.

“Yes, hold still so I can heal you,” Wendy ordered, running her hands over Chelia for the third time.

“Wendy, I’m healed! You’re wasting your magic energy,” Chelia scolded her lightly.

Chelia then reached up and grabbed Wendy’s hand to stop her from using her healing magic anymore.

“I have to fix you, Chelia,” Wendy replied firmly.

“Wendy, please look at me,” Chelia pleaded.

Wendy sighed and stopped her magic before she turned her head and met Chelia’s gaze.

“It’s over, Wendy, and we’re all alive. You saved me and all the others. I am so proud of you and I love you so much!” Chelia beamed as Wendy’s face fell.

“I was fighting Laxus. My mind wanted to win so I could see you again. And then Gray told us he was going to kill you and it was like my life ended when I watched him stab you. I fell for that man’s tricks and wanted to kill because of it,” Wendy shuddered violently.

“Wendy, these hands are for healing,” Chelia said gently, grabbing onto Wendy’s hands and bringing them up to her face.

Chelia kissed them softly, feeling Wendy relax slightly in her grasp.

“Do you really love me?” Wendy asked hesitantly, feeling her mind swimming with multiple overwhelming emotions.

“Why would you ever think I didn’t?” Chelia asked confused.

“I mean—like more than a friend?” Wendy asked in a small voice.

“Wendy, I’m your mate, I already figured that part out. And I’ve never been happier about anything more in my life,” Chelia replied, squeezing Wendy’s hands in her own.

Wendy smiled before she leaned over and embraced Chelia tightly, as if she was afraid her mate would disappear before her eyes.

“We have forever to love each other and let our relationship grow Wendy, so don’t worry about us. It’s all going to work out and we’ll have a wonderful life together,” Chelia whispered into Wendy’s hair.

Wendy nodded and continued to hold her mate, inhaling her scent and memorising the feel of her embrace to memory.

“What’s that?” Chelia asked, gently pulling away from Wendy.

All the slayers and their mates stood up and realised that their friends must have returned since there was a frantic pounding on the door.

Gajeel sighed and walked towards the sealed door pulling Levy behind him. No one blamed him for it since none of the couples wanted to let their partners out of their sight for worry that they still might not be safe. Gajeel was successful in opening the door again. The slayers then picked up their partners, with Sting helping Rogue along, and decided to leave the arena instead of having everyone file inside.

“We didn’t find the Game Master but we got help,” Erza informed them, noticing that everyone looked far worse than when they had left.

“Don’t worry, Gray took care of him, but I wouldn’t go in there, it’s rigged with traps that might still be active,” Gajeel explained to one of the officers peering inside and seeing the bloody corpse of the man on Gray’s geyser.

“We’ll have to question all of you,” one officer said, appearing to be the leader of the group.

“Your friends told us most of the story but we weren’t expecting the kidnapper to be dead and we need first-hand accounts of everything that happened,” he explained with an authoritative air about him.

“You can send an officer to each of our guilds and we’ll happily give a statement. As for now, we’re all going home,” Sting stated in his no nonsense voice, rivaling the tone of the officer in charge.

Sting and the others understood that since none of them were under arrest they no longer had to stay in Crocus, despite any wishes from the police or otherwise.

“Now, we’re all going to the train station to get the hell out of here,” Lyon added before stepping around the officers and leading the group out of the stadium.

The officers saw how badly beaten most of them appeared and recognised Sting as being a guild master. They all frowned but knew they didn’t have the grounds to argue the case, and it looked like medical attention should be their first priority before questioning them.

“We’ll send an officer along tomorrow morning. Make sure you’re all at your guilds by 9 am,” he ordered.

The rest nodded and took their leave.

“I’m going with Chelia!” Wendy announced firmly on the way.

“Wendy, you need to go back to your own guild. I promise I will see you soon,” Chelia reassured her.

“No, it’s not up for debate. I’m going to Lamia Scale and will return to Fairy Tail once you’re all healed,” Wendy repeated.

“Wendy!” Carla exclaimed, showing her worry for the girl.

“Carla, you go to Fairy Tail, that’s where you’re needed right now,” Wendy replied evenly. “I know you’ll be in good hands.”

Wendy nodded towards Happy who approached to take Carla’s hand.

Everyone else saw there was no convincing her otherwise and the slayers understood all too well that this was not the time to be separated from their mates.

“I’ll make sure Wendy comes back safe, I’m going to Lamia Scale as well,” Juvia stepped forward before taking Lyon’s hand.

This arrangement made both groups feel better that Wendy wouldn’t be alone from her entire guild and that Juvia was seemingly choosing to stay by Lyon’s side for the time being.

“Very well, we will see you two very soon,” Erza said before watching the four friends board a train headed west.

“You’ll hear from us soon with an invitation to our mating ceremony!” Sting exclaimed rather boldly before he led Rogue to their train headed east.

“That will be a nice excuse to all get together and celebrate something truly wonderful after all of this,” Erza replied smiling.

“Yea, can’t wait!” Lucy added enthusiastically.

Those of Fairy Tail then found their own train headed southeast and were all too relieved to finally be heading back home.


	9. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The survivors of the games are forced to confront the very emotions that made them the Game Master's targets.

The train ride back to Fairy Tail was solemn, spent mostly by the Fairy Tail guild taking turns dosing off since no one had really slept in three days. None of them felt comfortable all sleeping at the same time so they took turns, except for Natsu. He slept idly in Gray’s lap while the ice mage stroked his salmon coloured hair to try and ease his nausea. For the first time, Gray didn’t mind at all for Natsu’s debilitating motion sickness. Gajeel and Laxus put up a better front and let their mates take turns sleeping even if both of them still looked a little green.

Once they all exited the train in Magnolia, Erza promised to inform the master what had happened while the others headed in opposite directions to their homes. No one really wanted to attention and opted to retreat to the privacy of their own homes instead. Lucy joined Erza to the guild while Carla flew after Happy towards the cabin he shared with Natsu. Laxus grabbed possessively onto Freed’s arm before the two of them headed towards Laxus’s apartment while Elfman offered to walk Evergreen home. This left Gray who grabbed onto Natsu and dragged him back towards his place.

“Gray, let go. What are you doing?” Natsu asked irritably but Gray ignored him and kept pulling.

When he arrived at his building and pulled Natsu up the stairs to apartment, he quickly unlocked the door before dragging Natsu inside and slammed the door behind them.

“Gray, what’s all—” Natsu was interrupted from asking his question when Gray threw him up against the wall and planted his lips roughly across his.

Gray’s lips moved hungrily over Natsu’s in a rough desperation. Natsu fed into his movements, meeting his desperation until he finally pushed Gray back for some air.

“Babe, I’m not going anywhere, you don’t have to do this,” Natsu murmured quietly, feeling how scared Gray was looking into his eyes.

“But I wasted so much time, and I didn’t think I would ever see you again,” Gray whispered back in a feverish tone.

Natsu pulled at Gray’s hand to lead him over to the couch before they both sat down. Instead of sitting beside him however, Gray collapsed in front of Natsu instead and sank his head into his lap. It was a moment later that Natsu realised Gray was crying as his shoulders shook and tears started to stain the hem of his shirt. Natsu stroked his black hair and waited for Gray to calm down. When Gray finally lifted his head, his expression was fiercer than Natsu was expecting.

“Do you want to be with me?” Gray asked with a now intense look in his eyes.

“Idiot, how could you even ask me that? Of course I want to be with you,” Natsu answered, leaning forward and allowing himself to breathe in Gray’s intoxicating scent.

Natsu was losing his own inhibition as Gray drew him in. He started kissing his mate but this time it was more evenly matched. Gray lowered his pace while Natsu increased his own. They could both feel their wanting they had both felt and hadn’t ever been able to admit before.

Natsu’s lips moved from Gray’s to venture downwards to kiss his neck.

“Gray,” Natsu breathed in, trying to compose himself after both hearing and feeling Gray moan softly.

“Yea, Natsu?” Gray whispered back, obviously enjoying feeling Natsu’s lips and hands running along his body.

“There is a way to make you mine,” Natsu whispered into his skin.

“What are you talking about?” Gray asked sceptically, pulling back slightly at the seriousness of what Natsu was saying.

Natsu could hear the slight panic in his voice like Gray might not be ready for anything more intimate.

“Not _that_ ice princess. I mean that I can mark you and you’ll be my mate,” Natsu explained, pulling his lips away from Gray’s shoulder to look him in the eyes.

“Your mate?” Gray mulled over what that meant for his and Natsu’s relationship that had just started in the last ten minutes; everything had turned completely on its head and neither of them were very good at emotions in general, preferring to work through things more physically.

“I know it’s probably more of a commitment that you’re ready for, but I want you to know that there’s no one else for me out there. Dragons mate for life and I’ve known for a while that you are mine,” Natsu explained more seriously.

“You want someone as stubborn and temperamental as me for your mate?” Gray still sounded sceptical.

“I like for my life to be interesting,” Natsu smirked back.

“Alright, I want to be your mate,” Gray made up his mind, contradicted by his audible swallow.

“Gray, I’m not forcing you here. We have all the time in the world. I’m never letting you out of my sight again and I can wait longer if that’s what you need,” Natsu replied more easily than Gray had.

But Gray’s uneasy expression hardened before he brought his lips inches away from Natsu’s. “Hurry up and make me your mate already.”

Natsu smirked at that before closing the gap between them. His lips playfully danced across Gray’s before he brought them back down to Gray’s neck and shoulder. Once his lips landed in the crook of his neck and Gray moaned back in pleasure, Natsu sank his fangs into Gray. Gray’s hands tightened around Natsu’s arms before Natsu pulled his teeth out of Gray’s skin. Gray released his grip from Natsu’s arm to bring it up and touch the place where Natsu had just marked him. The dragon slayer looked at the mark proudly before Gray got up to look in the mirror.

“What is it?” Gray asked, observing the blackened symbol that had appeared on his neck like a small tattoo.

“It’s the draconic symbol for fire,” Natsu replied.

“So what, I belong to you now?” Gray asked hesitantly, tracing his fingers over the permanent marking.

Natsu stood up and walked over to his new mate. “Yes, you are mine, Gray. But in return I am yours. I will never leave your side or stop loving you until the day I die.”

Natsu looked resolutely at Gray before Gray’s look softened. “I guess this means we can’t brawl in the guild anymore.”

Natsu’s face sank. “Aww, why not?”

Gray’s face blushed which took Natsu off guard. “Because… I won’t be able to take my hands off of you if we do. My mate is unbelievably good looking and sexy as hell when he’s fighting.”

Natsu grinned, stepping even closer to Gray. “Dammit, that means neither of us can brawl in the guild anymore because I’ll get extremely jealous watching anyone else put their hands on you.”

Gray grinned back, letting Natsu pull him back towards the couch to be in each other’s arms.

xx

It was a few days after they had all returned back to he guild. Everyone had given their statements and the master had been apprised of the situation, to which he had exploded with livid anger. It was still completely troubling how Fiore’s top mages had all been swept away in the night still without any explanation other than they had all somehow been knocked out enough to be transported across the country without incident.

Erza and Lucy were holed up in Lucy’s apartment where they had been for the last few days since they didn’t really feel safe anywhere else. Those who had been a part of the so-called _Survival Games_ were all keeping a low profile and healing in their own way by being with their now significant others. 

“You know, for a while I thought that Natsu was in that room for you,” Erza said, showing a glimpse into her vulnerable side which she had only ever felt comfortable showing Lucy.

Lucy smiled softly at her. “I knew they had you in there for me, I only hoped they had gotten it wrong.”

Erza frowned back at her girlfriend. “It would have been worse if I was at the guild and had no idea where you were. I am somehow thankful they knew to choose me for you.”

“There’s no one else,” Lucy replied with a grin, taking and squeezing Erza’s hand to show how much she meant it.

“I have a present for you,” Erza announced more happily.

“Really, I don’t have anything for you,” Lucy frowned, thinking maybe she should have gotten Erza something as well to symbolize the start of their relationship.

“Nonsense, I saw this when I went shopping for armour and knew it would be perfect for you!” Erza explained excitedly.

“Wait, armour?!” Lucy exclaimed shocked, watching Erza pull out a similar piece of armour like the one she always wore in her everyday life from her dimensional storage space.

It had the Heart Kreuz emblem on it but seemed to be overall plain compared to all the other armour Erza owned.

Lucy looked sceptically at the piece before she smiled. She realised this was Erza telling her how scared she felt watching Lucy and that she wanted to always protect her.

“Try it on!” Erza ordered excitedly.

“Alright but turn around!” Lucy chastised her.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before,” Erza replied nonchalantly.

“Right, but it’s different now…” Lucy said feeling embarrassed.

Erza seemed to consider this as her cheeks broke out into a blush. She obligingly turned around while Lucy changed into the piece of armour. Surprisingly, it seemed to be a perfect fit as she turned around to show it off to Erza.

“Do you like it?” Erza asked eagerly, checking out how it fit Lucy quite nicely.

“Yea, it’s actually lighter than I expected,” Lucy replied honestly, appraising her reflection in the mirror.

“Yes, well I did say it was for someone very special and they assured me it was the best quality,” Erza said, not taking her eyes off Lucy.

“It’s perfect, thank-you,” Lucy said, turning around to face Erza.

She leaned up and kissed Erza’s cheek who blushed in return. “It looks very good on you.”

xx

“Whoa, Lucy’s wearing armour!” Happy exclaimed with an ever reluctant Carla in tow, not used to this particular look on the celestial mage.

“Yea, what’s with the wardrobe change?” Gray asked, coming over to join her.

Weeks after the incident, it was more and more common to find the members of the games coming to the guild everyday like before they were kidnapped; with the adage that they were never without their new mate/ partner.

“It was a gift from Erza. It actually is pretty comfortable and I’ll do whatever puts her mind at ease,” Lucy replied with a smile. “It looks like Natsu gave you a gift of his own.”

Gray blushed, bringing his hand up to touch the new mark on his neck.

“Hey, Stripper! Put on some damn clothes!” Natsu shouted from across the guildhall.

Gray looked down embarrassed to see that he had, indeed, removed his clothes and left them somewhere. Lucy laughed, noticing that Natsu was yelling jealously instead of angrily now. He was also running over with Gray’s pants and roughly put them into his mate’s hand so he could redress. Lucy watched as Natsu whispered into Gray’s ear looking frustrated before he softly kissed Gray’s cheek. It seemed that those two being together really forced them to grow up, but they both remained themselves as they then walked back, bickering, and carrying on like always.

What was also comforting to see was the return of the Thunder Legion together again, sitting in the corner with Elfman always accompanying them. It went unsaid but understood that Evergreen and Elfman were an item, constantly fawned over by Mirajane and Lisanna who supported their brother’s new relationship. The sisters were never too far away after having experienced another family horror of having their brother kidnapped into some kind of murder quest.

The least surprising to everyone, except for the couple themselves, was Laxus and Freed who sat comfortably surrounded by their team like always, but with Laxus always touching some part of Freed, like holding his hand, playing with his hair, or resting a hand on his thigh as a show of their mateship. And since Freed didn’t have a stripping problem, his mark wasn’t as readily obvious. But by how the two were acting it was obvious they had made their relationship official in terms of dragon rituals. 

Levy also sported a similar mark to the others, the blackened mark on her neck, translated by the other dragons and Gajeel himself, to unsurprisingly mean ‘iron’. It was noticed by those in the guild that possibly Gajeel and Levy had been the closest before to having an actual relationship since their patterns with each other didn’t really change. Gajeel still lazed around the guildhall with Pantherlily while keeping Levy in his sights as she read. However, they did have subtler changes in their behaviour like the fact that Levy didn’t blush so much while talking to Gajeel and that he accompanied her out of the guild each time they left, hand-in-hand.

Wendy and Juvia still hadn’t returned home, this being the longest the sky dragon slayer had been away from her best friend and confidant, Carla. But for as much as Carla didn’t change her standoffish attitude towards most of those around her, she was found more often than not, hand-in-hand with the blue-furred ‘tomcat’. And since Natsu spent most of his time at Gray’s place these days, Carla felt less self-conscious about the nights spent away from Fairy Hills. Happy had spent most of his time away from he guild scrubbing the cabin that he owned with Natsu since it was the only way Carla would stay with him, and he never complained once.

It was known today that both Chelia and Lyon were coming for an extended visit at Fairy Tail which wasn’t very surprising. In light of the recent horrors experienced by their guilds, the guild masters had banded together to create a new inter-guild relationship that would allow those from partnered guilds to go on jobs together, which was a heavily backed decision by the Magic Council who believed more ‘well-behaved’ guilds could rub off on Fairy Tail themselves.

And as for Rogue and Sting, the ties between Sabertooth and the others guild had never been stronger, bolstered by the invitations of their impending mateship ceremony that had all been received and became something to look forward to while they all healed in their own way. 


	10. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sting and Rogue's mateship ceremony!

Erza was standing up in her seat beside Lucy who was dressed in a rather revealing red dress. Erza had wanted to argue with her before they left the hotel room this morning but then realised that Lucy may be wearing it to show off to her. Erza knew that Lucy’s wardrobe greatly differed from her own and she was going to have to respect that now that they were dating. She also couldn’t argue since Lucy wore the armour she had gotten her, but tonight was a night of celebration. Erza in return, decided to join Lucy at her own game and wore a show stopping purple gown of her own. Erza couldn’t help feeling proud of herself when she noticed Lucy’s gaze moving over to check her out in her dress while they waited for the guests of honour to arrive.

“They’re coming!” Lucy exclaimed excitedly, causing Erza to slip her hand into her girlfriend’s to squeeze it.

Lucy squeezed back as they both watched the back doors of Sabertooth opening. Moments later Lector and Frosch flew out of it wearing dapper little tuxedos of their own. Of course Frosch’s was pink and black while Lector’s was blue and red but they both suited the exceeds quite well.

“Attention everyone! I happily introduce the mated dragons of Sabertooth, Master Sting and his partner Rogue!” Lector exclaimed proudly.

“Frosch thinks so too!” the little exceed in chimed before they both flew out of the way to let Sting and Rogue step into the guild hall together.

Rogue was looking very handsome in a white tuxedo while Sting was all in black.

xx

“Do you think we have to do something like this?” Gray asked uneasily while he clapped to welcome Sting and Rogue into their mating celebration.

“Do you want a celebration? Maybe a wedding or something?” Natsu asked in return.

“I think it might be more than I was ever expecting for our relationship,” Gray replied anxiously.

He loved Natsu more than he thought he was capable of loving another person. He also didn’t fault Sting and Rogue for having a ceremony that was much needed after the whole abduction fiasco, but Gray still wasn’t sure it was what he wanted for his own relationship.

“You know, we could have all this, if you wanted,” Natsu said assuredly, holding his mates hand tightly in his own.

“I don’t think I want all this,” Gray replied honestly.

“But, I would you know, if you wanted it,” Natsu repeated, wanting to make sure Gray wasn’t doubting him.

Gray squeezed his hand. “I know, Natsu.”

“So, if I don’t get to marry you that just means I’ll have to get creative showing you how much I love you,” Natsu smirked with a playful devious grin.

“What?!” Gray stuttered fearfully, picturing something equally as big and flashy as a wedding for everyone else to see.

“I’ll have to show you whenever the two of us are home _alone_ together,” Natsu winked before heading off to go congratulate the couple.

Gray took a moment to collect himself since his cheeks were now burning red.

“Did Salamander just propose to you with sex rather than marriage?” Gajeel appeared out of no where. “That’s my kind of proposal!”

“Gajeel, you can’t say things like that!” Levy stood beside him with a fiery blush that rivaled Gray’s.

“What the hell is your problem man! You can’t eavesdrop on my private conversations!” Gray yelled back to his own defense, feeling his usual anger build up to cover his embarrassment.

“Like hell I can’t, I have dragon senses,” Gajeel retorted. “What, are you going to fight me?”

“You bet I am!” Gray shouted before jumping and starting a brawl with the iron dragon slayer right in the middle of the ceremony.

“Hey! Get your pervy hands off my mate!” Natsu roared from where he was standing with Sting and Rogue.

Natsu didn’t waste anytime before jumping over dozens of people to push Gajeel away from Gray.

“Ice princess started it!” Gajeel roared.

“Natsu! No fighting at a ceremony!” Lucy yelled from within the crowd.

Erza growled, upset that Lucy was no longer enjoying herself as she worried over the boys fighting.

“Scary!” all three of them yelped when Erza entered the fray.

“I am so sorry,” Levy and Lucy apologised to Sting and Rogue who both came over to stand beside them, witnessing the chaos of their friends.

“Are you kidding, it’s not a party with Fairy Tail if these guys don’t fight!” Sting replied happily before stepping forward himself.

Rogue stood there speechless, caught between wanting to remain collected in front of their guests and wanting to pry his mate away from the people touching him.

“Don’t worry, at least all of them are in a committed, lifelong relationship. I don’t actually think you need to be jealous,” Laxus appeared next, giving all three of them a sense of unexpected relief that he was right.

“Care for some champagne instead?” Rogue asked Levy and Lucy who brightened immediately.

“That sounds great!” they chimed together before they were led away by Rogue.

However, sensing their partners leave, Sting, Gajeel and Erza soon left the brawl which left only Natsu and Gray to brush themselves off and go find some food.

xx

“Gajeel, do you really feel that way about weddings?” Levy asked once she had drank a few glasses of champagne for courage to ask her burning question.

“What do you mean, Shrimp?” Gajeel replied in a bored tone.

“Well, what you said about Gray and Natsu not getting married, do you really not like weddings?” Levy pressed on.

“Aw Shrimp, if I’m being honest, no, I don’t really feel the need for a wedding. I mean look at all the mates here, they all have a mark by now,” Gajeel surveyed the room.

Natsu had been the first to mark Gray, wasting no time since he did it the night they finally returned home from their nightmare experience. Rogue and Sting were presumably next since they had already announced their mating ceremony and their invitations came out less than a week later. Gajeel had seen the marks on the two slayers for himself, Rogue bearing the emblem for light while Sting bore the symbol for darkness. Gajeel had bided his own time as much as he could, but finally confessed his true emotions one night when Levy met him in the park. He explained to her exactly what it meant to be a slayer and a mate and the whole marking process. In turn she had agreed to become his mate and he marked her in their secluded area, wasting no time. The events the Game Master had put them through really pushed the envelope to waste no more time than they already had.

He turned back to see Levy running her fingers over the mark on her neck which translated to iron in draconic. He smiled before looking towards the other side of the room and noticed Freed pulling Laxus towards the dance floor. Despite Laxus’s look of disinterest, Gajeel didn’t miss the small smile that gave Laxus’s true feelings away. He also saw the black symbol on Freed’s neck since Freed had opted for a slightly more revealing outfit this evening than his usual high-necked blouse and jacket. Unsurprisingly, Freed’s symbol translated to lightning. Last, and what was certainly the most surprising, was Chelia who was skipping around the dancefloor with Wendy at her heels. The pink haired god slayer had her own black mark meaning sky pressed into her skin for eternity. Again, those two probably would have waited years to confess their true feelings but the Game Master awoke the primal instincts within all of the slayers and their mates were drawn to the call.

Levy was frowning as she continued tracing her fingers over her neck.

“But—” Gajeel let his caveat draw her attention back to him. “I know how much a wedding means to you, so of course we’ll get married.”

Gajeel watched Levy’s face light up before she hugged him tightly. Gajeel figured Natsu had the best-case scenario with Gray, who both weren’t into public displays of affection such as a wedding, but there was no way Gajeel would deny Levy something that she wanted so badly.

xx

“Laxus, would you allow me one dance?” Freed asked with yearning in his eyes.

Laxus stifled his typical growl of disinterest since he couldn’t deny his mate something he wanted so plainly. The rune mage reacted silently by grabbing his slayer’s hand, knowing that Laxus had agreed in his own way. Once they found a vacant spot, Freed grabbed onto one of Laxus’s hand before sliding his other hand onto Laxus’s waist. Laxus mimicked his hand placements before both of them surprisingly started to dance seamlessly with one another.

“So, do you think we could have a smaller ceremony?” Laxus asked quietly, surveying all the people around them.

Freed remained speechless before beaming at his mate.

“I was thinking maybe eloping, just having the Thunder Legion present,” Freed admitted shyly to the plans he already had from years of pining after Laxus.

“Yea, a destination wedding. Somewhere warm so I can watch you in a swimsuit for our entire trip,” Laxus flirted, still sending Freed into a crimson coloured blush whenever he did.

“So… is this your proposal?” Freed whispered bashfully.

“Well, I think our mating was much more intimate, but I’ll propose properly if you want,” Laxus replied.

Freed blushed even more furiously before nodding slightly, not being able to deny the thought of Laxus getting down on one knee for him.

xx

Both Evergreen and Elfman watched as Laxus followed after Freed without any of his usual broody hesitation. They had found it easier since they weren’t the only ones in the Thunder Legion in a new relationship, none of them very open about discussing such personal things. Instead, now, Bixslow complained that he was the only one left out, but never discussed the means to which both of the other relationships had started.

“You look beautiful, Ever,” Elfman moved to stand right behind her before wrapping his arms around her middle and ducking down to speak directly into her ear.

It was much more forward than the two of them usually were with each other, but Evergreen would let him this time given the overly romantic setting.

“Of course I do,” Evergreen replied smartly before feeling Elfman’s arms tighten slightly around her for more of an embrace.

“You clean up quite well yourself, you know,” Evergreen added to which she could feel Elfman smiled into the top of her head in response.

But before either of them could continue with their out-of-character romantic interaction—because they were usually more like Gray and Natsu who you knew they were flirting whenever they were shouting at each other—they were knocked into by a set of pink and blue pigtails dashing by them.

“Excuse us!” Wendy announced as Chelia dashed around several of the dancers with Wendy closely following her.

“I know the man with the tray of tempura shrimp passed by here,” Chelia exclaimed, looking around for the hors d'oeuvres she craved.

Wendy pulled at her hand, allowing the pinkette to stop before she inhaled deeply to track the scent.

“There!” Wendy pointed, pinpointing the tray with her sharp nose.

Chelia beamed back at her, sending Wendy’s heart into somersaults before Chelia pulled her towards the food. Once Chelia found the food, she took a handful off the tray to her sheer delight.

“Wendy, can we have an even bigger mating ceremony than this?!” Chelia exclaimed, causing Wendy to blush furiously.

“Wh-what?” Wendy stuttered.

“Not yet silly. I know you marked me early because of what happened, not that I regret any of it. I am so happy I’m your mate Wendy, but I do want to get married one day. Since you marked me, I will propose to you and we can both wear poufy white dresses and have an even bigger celebration with even more shrimp!” Chelia exclaimed.

“Th-that sounds nice,” Wendy admitted.

“What would you want for our ceremony?” Chelia asked smiling.

“Well, something like this is nice with all of our friends. And… lots of dancing,” Wendy replied bashfully.

This seemed to alter Chelia’s goal, who had all but devoured most of the shrimp anyways, while Wendy was talking.

The god slayer then grabbed her mate’s hand to lead her to the dance floor before finally slowing her breakneck pace and held Wendy much closer while they danced to a slower rhythm, the two girls picturing how it would be their turn in years to come to get married for the world to see.

xx

“This is all so nice, isn’t it?” Lucy gushed over all the decorations.

“Is this something you would want?” Erza asked, watching Lucy intently for her reaction.

“You know, all the slayers became mates and that’s pretty amazing. But I’m really happy just finally being your girlfriend. Someday, I hope to be a wife, but for now I don’t need anything more than what I have with you,” Lucy smiled back.

“I agree, I couldn’t have said it better,” Erza replied more softly.

“Now, can I interest my gorgeous girlfriend in joining me for the next dance?” Lucy smiled.

The two women walked onto the dancefloor, Erza noticing Lucy staring again.

“So, you like my dress?” Erza asked, inwardly chastising herself for her own blush.

“Erza, you look freaking beautiful. But I do have to admit, I always think you’re sexy in your armour,” Lucy whispered.

“Well, now that I know I have accomplished impressing you with my wardrobe, now I have to impress you with my dancing skills,” Erza said rather intimidatingly.

Lucy gulped, remembering Erza’s dancing lesson with Natsu. However, Erza guided Lucy around slowly where Lucy could be wrapped up in her arms. She couldn’t be happier than in this very moment.

xx

Lyon couldn’t take his eyes off his new girlfriend, even if he didn’t particularly like that term of endearment. Maybe it chalked up to his lifelong rivalry with his foster brother, Gray, but hearing Gray refer to Natsu as his mate, along with all the other slayers and their partners, Lyon didn’t think his feelings for Juvia were any less. Plus, Juvia was also his roommate, another inapt descriptor since they had purchased a townhouse in the middle of their two guilds. Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale were equal distance, half hour, from their new house and they both found it an acceptable compromise to be able to navigate their new relationship more intimately. It was more than Lyon could have ever wished for so he had to wonder why he had ever doubted his need for a relationship.

“Love, would you like to dance with Juvia?” the bluenette asked by his side, looking exquisite in her sapphire dress that seemed to shimmer in the light.

 _Love,_ now that was an appropriate name for each other and to what they had. He could accept them as lovers until he finally found the perfect ring to bestow to Juvia that was beautiful enough to signify his emotions for her.

“Of course, darling,” Lyon obliged her without another thought, allowing Juvia to lead them to the dance floor before he swept her up into his arms and held onto her like he was too afraid he would wake up from the dream and plummet back into the nightmare that still haunted them.

xx

With the romance and excitement surrounding them, Carla knew to expect that Happy was even more affectionate and lovesick than usual. When he turned his doe eyes towards the white exceed, she was already prepared with her plan of action before Happy even uttered a word.

“Here,” Carla took out a long sheet of paper that was more of a scroll with a list of tasks written on it in tiny lettering.

“What is it?” Happy asked, scanning the words as he unfurled the parchment in his hands.

“It’s a to do list of all the things you need to complete before I will accept any proposal to get married!” Carla replied haughtily.

She had expected Happy to complain like he normally did whenever something didn’t go his way. But instead, the blue tomcat’s eyes widened even more than usual and a smile beamed across his face.

“That means you’ll agree to marry me once I complete all the things on the list!” Happy was even more joyous now before he immediately took off to show the list to presumably Natsu since that was who he was calling out for over the crowd.

Carla scowled since it was her normal reaction to everything, but inside she felt just as light an airy as Happy probably did.

xx

“It’s crazy, isn’t it? I mean look at all the couples here,” Sting leaned over to speak to his lover who was sitting beside him, looking over at all the party-goers who were all here to celebrate their mateship.

Rogue hummed in acknowledgement and observed over the crowd in silent contemplation.

“Do you think that maybe none of this would have happened without the _games_ ,” Sting asked brashly but Rogue could tell he was serious, not knowing in particular how the games had truly intervened in their lives.

“I think everyone was already on a path to get to where they wanted to go. Arguably, Freed and Laxus or Gajeel and Levy were the closest to getting together and we probably would have seen their marks within the next year. I think Natsu and Gray would have prolonged their rivalry as far as they could take it until one of them abruptly decided to propose, or something as equally as impulsive as they are. But I wish Wendy and Chelia had gotten much more time, they deserved to see their bond play out until they were mature enough to recognise and accept it for how important it is, not that I think they don’t realise that now with what they’ve had to face and overcome. And the others... I don’t doubt their love for each other just as I don’t judge any of the mateships, but we all deserved more time, so I can’t condone what was done to us, even with how much happiness I see here today,” Rogue replied with such astute wisdom, turning a fond look to his newly mated slayer and proclaimed husband.

Sting tried so hard never to take Rogue’s advice for granted. especially with how it usually impacted and contributed to his guild master position. This time it was Sting who hummed back in acknowledgement at Rogue before the shadow dragon slayer decidedly tried to ease the heaviness that never seemed to be too far away.

“How about we dance, Sting?” Rogue smiled, brightening his usually reserved face.

Sting beamed back before leading his now husband, mate, soulmate to the dance floor where the others made space and where each of them all held onto who was most precious to them in the whole world like they would never let them go.


End file.
